The Ultimate Weapon (Naruto Fanfic)

35-Kidnappings

After a faint knock on the door, Aoi opened it and stepped inside. Ibiki was in the room, hands on a table and looming over a criminal. The man was in a gray jumpsuit, and though he was looking fearfully at the man hovering over him, he shrunk farther into his seat when he looked over and saw Aoi. With faint recognition, Aoi realized it was a shinobi that had taken part in the first part of the chunnin exams. Straightening, Ibiki looked over at Aoi as well, the faintest of smiles trying to find its way onto the stern man's face.

"Aoi, glad you could come in so soon after your mission." The blue haired boy simply nodded, coming further into the room to stand beside his sensei. Ibiki leaned in closer to whisper into Aoi's ear. "I heard what happened, I'm sorry you had to go through that." Again Aoi simply nodded.

"What did you need me for today?" Humphing ever so slightly in recognition of the subject change, Ibiki gestured for Aoi to follow him into an adjoining room. A one way mirror divider allowed them a view of the man Ibiki had been questioning, and he visibly slumped in his seat after the two left.

"While you were gone, a crime spree has popped up in Konoha. It started a few days ago, on Christmas day. That was when the first kidnapping occurred." Ibiki placed a folder on the table in the room, opening it and taking out photos. "They are all children around 10 or 11, academy age. The only connection they actually have is that they are all students of the academy.

"The man in the other room is the teammate of one of our suspects, a teacher at the academy. As it is, we're investigating all the staff at the academy to see if any of them know anything. Unfortunately, because they aren't criminals and instead are citizens of Konoha, we are unable to search their memories unless it becomes completely necessary and we get the Hokage's permission. For now, we have to rely on old-fashioned interrogation methods."

Aoi looked over the pictures and various files held in the folder Ibiki had set out, nodding slightly after Ibiki was done speaking. In the time he had been teaching at the academy, he had also continued his training under Ibiki. This wasn't a new situation to him, and had grown accustomed to how interrogations like these worked.

"What should I do first?" Aoi's eyes met Ibiki's and the older man saw nothing in them to suggest he was unprepared for this investigation.

Nodding almost imperceptibly, Ibiki sifted through some papers before handing one to Aoi. "I want you to follow this man. Like you, he is an instructor at the academy, so make sure you stay out of sight. If he see's you it might ruin everything. Return here tomorrow morning."

"Got it." With that Aoi walked through the room, the man in it tensing as he passed. He stiffened even further when Ibiki walked into the room with a sadistic grin on his face.

_+_

Aoi peeked over the chimney of the roof he was hiding on. Below him was a normal shinobi in the classic chunnin garb. He had short dark grey hair that was short in the front and longer in the back. He wore glasses and his headband hung around his neck. As if sensing eyes upon him the man looked back behind him, but before he had even begun the action, Aoi was back out of eyesight.

It was clear the man was heading to the academy, more than likely to clean his classroom and prepare his lesson for when class started back up in a few days. There was a flash of blue as Aoi moved forwards and changed his hiding place, staying out of sight.

The entire day Aoi followed the man, nothing happened. Even when the sun had set and the darkness of night had set in, the man simply returned to his home. Then, a few hours before dawn had risen, the man left his home, walking calmly down the empty streets.

A few minutes into the oddly timed morning walk, he was joined by a woman. The two walked, the man casually slinging an arm around the woman and leaning in close to her. She giggled slightly from what could be assumed was a joke. Focusing chakra into his ears, Aoi tried to increase his hearing to a point where he could hear what was being said to the woman.