This is Where I Ask the Questions [Asuka, Ibiki]
[[Backlogged to October - takes place between this and this.]]
Time didn't exactly pass normally for Asuka any more. Granted, it wasn't as disjointed as it had been - she was remembering more of what had happened and what was going on around her, for instance - but that was not to say that she could exactly tell you how long it had been since Rin had told her what had happened, or how long, precisely, she'd been sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really awake. It was, unsurprisingly for her nature, a little irritating.
The drugs helped a lot with that, though. Or... whatever it was they had going through her IV. They certainly did an excellent job of knocking her out every time another nurse came by to inject another dose. Like this last time.
Waking back up from a drug-induced coma was a ridiculously slow thing. It had become so commonplace at this point that she endured the slow waking of her synapses with long suffering patience. First she would realize she was staring at the ceiling, the real ceiling and not actually a dream ceiling. Then it would take her another twenty minutes to regain the ability to wiggle her fingers again. (Not that she wanted to. It was easier and created less of that painless pressure when she wiggled her toes instead.) Then she needed another ten minutes before conversation started making sense again, around which point she could pretend to be coherent again.
This time she woke up a lost faster. That was probably because when she woke up, it wasn't just the ceiling she was staring at. It was Ibiki, quietly knitting by the side of her hospital bed.
Yeah, you read that right. Knitting. Some little grayish black thing the same basic shade as her jacket and boots. You'd wake up fast too if that was the first thing you saw.
It only took about five minutes before she trusted herself to be capable of talking. The adrenaline helped with that, no doubt. (And the sound of her heart monitor speeding up no doubt helped, too.) But she didn't. If Ibiki had something to say, let her say it.
No doubt she had quite a lot to say.... and to ask.
Ever since this whole mess began, Ibiki's ever-watchful eye never strayed far from the hospital, and only shifted wards when a certain patient's condition warranted transferring to different areas. Sarutobi existed in the eye of a storm of her own making that spiraled out to touch many, making a conversation with her one of Ibiki's top priorities. However, in such a matter as this, care must be taken to ascertain she missed nothing in the course of this investigation. Patience. Patience and exacting thoroughness, two qualities which made her so damn good at her job. And really, this conversation provided nothing more than a means to the end of finding out what in the hell happened.
While Sarutobi waking up immediately upon Ibiki's entrance would have helped to progress things that much more smoothly, she didn't honestly believe herself that fortunate. She expected to wait a considerable amount of time before Sarutobi woke. She knew Sarutobi regained consciousness previously. Those times she simply allowed Sarutobi to first reorient herself in the conscious world. The mind needed time to clear away the dregs of medicinal fog that clouded the mind, and muscles must remember just how to function correctly. Once the nurses and doctors judged among themselves that Sarutobi met the prerequisite benchmarks for stringing along coherent thoughts, Ibiki entered the picture.
She'd avoided Kiyoyama easily. Dealing with him and having the confrontation end in a way that was conducive to him still being functional meant there could be no confrontation in the first place. And once inside Sarutobi's room, Ibiki would remain there until she chose to leave. For as long as she touched nothing on Sarutobi's person, the hospital staff's complaints amounted to very little at best. She was on the Hokage's business after all.
Most people, when confronted with an extended unavoidable wait, chose to entertain themselves by sleeping, snacking, or reading. Ibiki read at home, she slept where none could bother her (sole exception being Aki, and one of these days she would figure out why it is she hadn't killed him yet), and snacking held the potential to make her gain unnecessary weight. Therefore, she chose knitting as a mindless, repetitive activity to give her fingers exercise while her mind followed very different thoughts.
Her eyes never strayed from the row she currently purled when Sarutobi's heart monitor sped up. Actually, about a dozen more rows and the hat would've been finished. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Sarutobi. How do you feel?" Ah, well. She would finish this row before setting the knitting aside.
Oh. Darn. Caught already.
Asuka only blinked in reply, not entirely ready to speak though she was fairly certain she wouldn't be slurring to much if she was careful. (It was annoying what an impediment the drugs were, not to mention her severely decreased lung capacity.) Her lung was repaired enough that the doctors apparently felt it was safe to let her breathe on her on own, but it sometimes didn't feel that way, even with the drugs blocking the constant pressure of pain in her chest.
She turned her head slightly in Ibiki's direction, but said nothing. If Ibiki wanted small talk, she could say it all herself; she didn't have the energy to keep up her side of the conversation.
A thin smile momentarily graced Ibiki's features. Receiving an actual response was a bit much, but she supposed it hadn't hurt to try. She said nothing for a while as she finished her row. A little beaded hook as a marker to remind her which stitch she'd used on that row was added before rolling the knitting up and putting it into the small bag beside her chair. (The reactions to the bag had been priceless. No one wanted to ask what was in it, and her comment of "Just a little something to keep me busy" produced wide eyes and long steps taken in every direction but towards her.) Hands free, she flexed her fingers before crossing her legs at the knee and and leaning back enough to put one arm on the windowsill.
"You've caused quite the stir during your last mission. I don't suppose you would like to explain just why you decided to run off on your own like you did?"
This was probably a really bad time for her to be questioned. She was still pretty heavily drugged on narcotics - and she wouldn't be the first person to run off at the mouth due to the uninhibiting effect of narcotics. Brain and mouth, it had been proven, didn't always communicate before spouting out.
On the other hand, though, she couldn't just give a confession. Asuka knew she didn't have the energy for that, and that thankfully limited just how much she could run off. If Ibiki wanted answers, she was going to have to ask the right questions.
"Short questions," she said. Her voice was faint, husky, and had a breathy quality that indicated how much effort she had to put into expelling the air necessary to talk. "Short answers. Can't talk much."
Good thing Ibiki cleared her day for this. Even so, questioning would more than probably consist of several sessions. She studied Asuka intently as she mentally altered her questions into ones to elicit the most useful information.
"Scheduled departure time for your mission."
That wasn't actually a question, but Asuka probably wasn't in a position to be nit-picky, was she? Well, she probably could be, but it certainly wouldn't earn her any brownie points.
To the question. When did they leave? It wasn't so much that there was a 'scheduled' anything, so much as she ordered the two chuunin to show up STAT. But she had specified a time for them to be at the west gate...
"Twenty-one hundred hours."
Ibiki ticked that off mentally. "Teammates? Family names will suffice."
What, wasn't that obvious? She'd only told Tsurude exactly who was going with her. "Uchiha." ..... crap, what was that other girls family name again? "... and Sai."
"What about Nara Shikako?"
"Mission."
"Your mission objective?"
Right. What exactly had she told Tsurude again? Asuka was silent for a moment, letting her eyes slip back closed as she tried to sift through her murky, drugged memory. It took a few moments before she responded. "Find Sasoriza. If nothing, come home." She took a breath and reopened her eyes. "If found, tail and send word."
"And once word was sent?"
"Wait for orders." Not that this was exactly what happened, nor what she had planned to do in the first place, but that was the mission objectives, as stated.
"How many vials of antivenin did you request for the mission?"
"Six."
"Who did you request them from?"
.... this was starting to get a little odd. All of these questions should be on paper somewhere. Don't say Ibiki hadn't done her research first? "... Rin."
Ibiki watched her shrewdly, dark eyes intent while the face remained bland. Hopped up on drugs as she was, Sarutobi couldn't keep her own face as controlled and thus Ibiki saw more than the jounin would have liked. Sarutobi, while not considered a genius, still possessed a keen intellect. Especially for strategy. Give her enough time and she could spin up quite the ensnaring net. Ibiki had no intention of giving her that time.
"How did you distribute the vials?"
And while it made sense to go to Kiyoyama (he and Sarutobi knew each other, were friends, and had the mutual connections of Yuuhi and Hatake), the information Ibiki would keep in mind as random trivia.
The immediate response Ibiki received was a slow blink and no other obvious reaction. Internally, however, Asuka was doing the 'oh shit' dance, and that was made obvious by the barely perceivable increase of speed in the annoying beeps of her heart monitor. That wasn't something she could lie about, because Sai and Sachiko would certainly know how many they were given (and turn them back in unused) and I don't remember, however plausible it might be, simply wouldn't stand up against Sai and Sachiko's statements. The other four vials had to have gone somewhere.
So she went for the third route.
"Short questions," she reminded Ibiki. "Short answers." Because she couldn't give an entirely short answer to that question. If she was going to get locked in, she didn't want to waste her breath on it.
Ibiki tipped her head, nothing about her demeanor or posture displaying what she felt. She simply continued to observe with all her senses and ask questions.
"Kureno was arrested after he and Rin returned with you. How many vials did you give Sai?"
The heart monitor betrayed her again, only this time much more obviously. And it hurt, a dull far-away pounding in her chest - it shouldn't hurt for her heart to suddenly start beating that fast, should it?
Asuka's eyes widened, and confusion conflicted with alarm in her expression. Nothing after the first statement was even heard. "What?"
"How many vials did you give Sai?" Ibiki asked again as the epitome of patience.
"No." Asuka was strongly tempted to shake her head, but (wisely) changed her mind at the last second. "What you first said."
One eyebrow lifted in a display of surprise. "About Kureno? He was arrested." The eyebrow fell back into place. "But that discussion can be saved until later. How many vials did you give Sai?"
Oh. That's what she thought she'd heard.
...
Kureno was arrested?!
"Why?" There was no point in even trying to hide the tone of something quite close to betrayal in her voice. Why would Kureno be arrested? There was no one who walked the line tighter than him. What in the world could he have possibly done to get arrested?
"As I recall, he was arrested for treason. The full account of his crimes, and the punishment assigned, are public knowledge. Therefore I will disclose the information to you, but not until after you and I have finished our current discussion about your mission. A little focus would be appreciated, Sarutobi, so we might expedite this." Ibiki's glare was cool. "How many vials did you give Sai?"
Treason? That was impossible. That was fucking impossible. That was so goddamn fucking impossible that Asuka was sure that Orochimayu would become the next Hokage at the rate things were going. There was quite simply no way.
"No." This time Asuka did shake her head, albeit very slightly; that she could do so at all was probably a good indication of her agitation. "Don't fucking lie to me."
"I have no reason to lie to you, Sarutobi. You are a highly-ranked shinobi in excellent standing" --for now-- "and as I said, the information regarding Kureno is public knowledge. You could easily find the truth on your own by asking around. Also as I said, I will tell you the details after we have finished. The more you cooperate, the faster we shall reach that point. Am I clear?"
"You don't need any goddamn answers." Asuka's breath ran out at the end of the last word, and she sucked in an angry, greedy breath to replenish it. Her glare was slow to develop, but between that, the rate her heart monitor was going, and the harsh edge to her already hoarse words, cooperation had just flown out the window. "You already know. Why?"
Sarutobi's anger had no effect on Ibiki except to glance at the machines the wounded jounin was hooked up to. She said nothing, waiting patiently for Sarutobi to calm down enough that the heart monitor slowed to something approaching a more natural tempo. All the while, Sarutobi glared hatefully.
"If I already knew the answers, then I would not be here." Clearly, as Ibiki did have other tasks she could be doing. "But I am here." Such was life. "If you will not give me the answers I am looking for, then you will give them to me so I may relay them to the Hokage. I am here to discuss your mission, Sarutobi, not anything regarding Kureno. I said I would tell you about him when we are finished, as a courtesy. But you will first do me the courtesy of answering my questions.
"How many vials did you give Sai?"
Asuka's heart beat only slowed because Ibiki wasn't continuing to provide the impetus for fight-or-flight. This did not mean that her anger or glare abated any. If anything, it only sharpened at the other woman's words, and her voice was tight in response. "As many as she needed."
"A number."
"As many as she needed."
"I want to know the exact number of vials that you gave Sai."
If it was possible, Asuka's glare only sharpened further. "I want a cigarette. Life sucks."
Ibiki just looked at her. Inside, she was sighing. The Sarutobi stubbornness she knew was especially strong in this one. So much for the drugs countering it in even a small way that still left the mind otherwise clear. Bothersome, especially in this situation. Time for a change in approach.
Then she smiled just a bit and with genuine amusement. If nothing else, Sarutobi had proven an entertaining plaything before. How nice that she would so again. "Suppose I told you more about Kureno now instead of later." Ibiki paused and shifted forward, just enough of a leer on her face for Sarutobi to notice while her eyes skimmed lightly over the other woman's blanket-draped form. "What, then, would I get in return?"
Give a little to get substantially more.
For a moment, Asuka only stared at her blankly. It wasn't too unusual a question - Asuka, herself, frequently asked the 'what do I get out of it?' question when someone she wasn't immediate friends with asked for a favor. But hearing this coming out of Ibiki? That was a bit... strange. Obviously she would answer questions. Wasn't that obvious?
And then, after a few seconds, she finally caught on to the look she was being given: a suggestive leer that, while very subtle, still gave the impression of what exactly was on Ibiki's mind. Unbidden, an old memory she'd thought she'd done a good job of deliberately forgetting came back to her, of her first tour of ANBU. Asuka paled.
A few more moments passed as she visibly gathered herself and found her words again. "You answer me... I'll answer you." After all, she was already damned, wasn't she?
Satisfied Sarutobi understood what wasn't being said, Ibiki nevertheless remained as she was except to prop her elbow on her knee, wrist bent so her chin rested on knuckles. "That's not good enough," she returned, "Asuka."
".................................... what do you want?"
To prolong the obvious tension, Ibiki looked thoughtful for a handful of heartbeats before refocusing. "Elaboration."
Ibiki's expression was worrisome. Extremely worrisome. Worrisome enough that if Asuka's heart monitor hadn't already been betraying her, it would have done so yet again. However, with enough time Ibiki opened her mouth again, and what came out was what Asuka'd first expected and was extremely thankful to hear. Thank Chiriku's gods for small favors.
Elaboration. Right. That meant not just answering the bare minimum asked. ... might as well, all things considered, especially considering her vulnerable state right now.
"... agreed," she said quietly.
"Excellent." Ibiki showed just a glimmer of white teeth as she settled back in her chair. She folded her hands together, fingers interlacing as she schooled her face to something more businesslike. "Kureno asked for and received permission to participate in an S-ranked mission with an anticipated twenty-percent success rate. Despite his initial inclination to refuse, Hokage-sama allowed it. Six hours before the mission's scheduled departure, Kureno was approached by your monk-friend Chiriku, and then Rin joined them soon after. Chiriku somehow had knowledge of not just your mission, but your intended destination, and wanted him to have someone go after you. Rin decided as Kureno's superior that the two of them would be the ones to fetch you back. Kureno left Chiriku with the instructions to inform the council heads of what they were doing.
"At no point did Kureno mention the mission he was already a part of," she continued. "Due to the nature of the mission, and that Hokage-sama had been disinclined to permit Kureno's involvement, Hyuuga-sama received the dispensation from the Hokage to charge and arrest him for treason. Judgement was suspended pending the investigation as well as the Hokage's return from the jounin exam.
"The investigation did not find evidence sufficient to maintain the charge of treason. However, he was found guilty of additional charges: mission abandonment, first degree; dereliction of duty, first degree; insubordination, first degree; conduct unbecoming a shinobi, third degree. The Hokage declared that his punishment would be to spend an additional two weeks in jail, followed by janitorial duty at the Academy until such time as the Hokage believes that the Academy students have learned just why a high-ranked jounin is doing such menial labor. He is stripped of his genin team and barred from teaching anyone anything. He will not be assigned another teaching position, period. He will be unable to learn new jutsu, himself, as well as accept any missions higher than C-rank unless the mission cannot succeed without him.
"His story of what and why he abandoned the mission is public knowledge, as is his punishment. He cannot resign. In the end, he will be forgotten. Considering he is the last of his line, that shouldn't take more than two generations."
............ how could he....
Asuka... genuinely didn't know what to think. For far too long after Ibiki had finished speaking, her brain was just... blank, devoid of words or any reaction. What she'd been told was just so... incomprehensible... impossible. Kureno would never abandon a mission. He was just so... duty-oriented that... that it was just impossible.
But her attack on Sasoriza had been at least a week ago already, and Rin had sort-of-implied that something crazy had happened, even if he hadn't told her the details (and she hadn't remembered to ask again until just now). And despite expecting it - knowing he would - Kureno hadn't stopped by once. There hadn't been any circumstances in which Kureno had failed to visited her at the hospital, quite swiftly, unless something else was keeping him away. Like a mission... or prison.
She looked away from Ibiki, rolling her head away to stare unseeing in the other direction. She didn't... she just couldn't understand it. Abandoning a mission was one thing. Abandoning an S-ranked mission that the Hokage hadn't even wanted to give to you in the first place... that was another. Kureno abandoning an S-ranked mission that the Hokage hadn't wanted to give to him in the first place... was just... it went so far against the grain of what she knew of him. It was the complete opposite of anything he would ever do - ranking right up there with betraying the village. He would never do it. He would never do it.
Only he had... to come after her. Which made it...
Why?
"No redemption?" Her voice was almost painfully soft; almost hopeless.
Gods, her chest hurt.
"That is for the Hokage to decide." Ibiki eyed Asuka, then asked, "What is the exact number of vials of antivenin you gave to Sai?"
For the Hokage to decide.
Asuka closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing, concentrated on the rhythm of her heart and the gentle pulse of the oxygen tube taped under her nose, anything to not think.
"One," she replied, numbly.
"And Uchiha?"
"One."
"What did you do with the remaining four?"
Used them to kill Sasoriza. Though only three had actually been used, that she knew of; she didn't think she'd gotten the chance to use the fourth before she'd passed out.
"Kept them for myself."
Ibiki knew from watching Sarutobi and from previous encounters with her that she habitually held back information. Even with the agreement, habit was hard to break. "Elaboration, Asuka," Ibiki reminded the other mildly.
"... to kill Sasoriza." Her words were grudging, but more defeated than anything else. If she had the breath to say more, she wasn't sure she could.
"Take your time," Ibiki suggested gently, encouragingly. "No rush. Now, your mission parameters stated you were to locate Sasoriza, and only to kill if given the order. Why were you keeping the vials in order to kill Sasoriza?"
An explanation as to why was something... even she wasn't sure she could answer yet. Other than simply wanting to, which just wasn't good enough. Just like with Kureno, 'because' would never be good enough. Emotion was not good enough without a thorough scouring of facts, and sometimes not even after that. How could she come up with an explanation that would be 'good enough' on the fly like this?
... she would because she had to. Didn't have to like it; just had to do it. Because she owed Kureno, if nothing else.
"I wanted to." Wanted to so bad she'd spent countless nights reading and re-reading the information on Sasoriza that Suna had been good enough to give them, information she'd been able to access with her clearance levels and had copied for herself. Information she could repeat from memory, if given a moment to recall it past the drugs. "When Dai gave me the report... I knew I'd have a chance to." She took a breath. "I sent Sai and the Uchiha... away in a different direction so... they wouldn't need any antivenin. Just me."
"Councilwoman Dai gave you the report?"
"She gave it to me after... I'd come back in from patrol." Came looking straight for her, it seemed like. "She said she brought it to me... because Gaia was out. That it needed to come to me."
"She came looking for you directly?"
"Yes."
"How did Chiriku know about your mission, Asuka?"
She took a moment to review that question. Chiriku knew because Asuka had... sort of told her, and Chiriku was sharp enough to put two and two together. But Ibiki had said previously that Chiriku had even know her destination; how was that possible? She hadn't told anyone her ultimate destination. There was no way the monk could have possibly known.
Asuka rolled her head back to stare up at the ceiling, brows furrowing slightly.
"I implied that I wanted Sasoriza once," she said slowly. "And I implied I was going after her. But... I didn't say where I was going."
"Did you tell anyone where you were going?"
"... no."
"Any suppositions on how, then, Chiriku knew your location?"
"No. It's... not possible."
"You did not tell Sai and Uchiha?"
"No. I told them to... head north, while I headed south. I didn't tell them... where south I was going."
"Why not?"
Because she didn't want them involved, duh. "Why tell them if... I didn't want them in the fight? They would just... get in the way. And I didn't want them hurt."
"Elaborate."
"The Uchiha's sharingan would be useless." As Asuka'd learned a long time ago from Kakami, the sharingan could only predict the motion of objects that had intent. That was to say, people, animals, and thrown objects (provided said thrown objects weren't kicked off course by wind or other such things). As Sasoriza's puppets were never directed physically by hand, there would be no intent - and therefore nothing for the sharingan to see. "Sai is unpredictable." Quite a problem considering she was Sai's superior both in the Akatsuki teams and in ANBU, yet frequently got sass and not-quite insubordination. Even Sachiko was more obedient than Sai.
And most importantly... "And I couldn't concentrate on... killing Sasoriza if they were there. I'd be more worried... about them, and getting them out. So I sent them off."
"Asuka, just how long have you been planning for an encounter with Sasoriza?"
Another tricky question. Primarily because... she hadn't been planning it, per se. She'd been... wanting it, craving it, waiting until she could have it, but never out-right planning it. Just waiting for the time to be right, because she would know when it was right. Her chance would come if she was just patient.
Only maybe the time hadn't been as right as she'd initially thought. No matter whether she'd succeeded in her ultimate goal or not.
"I...." Her brows furrowed more. How could she explain this? "...haven't been planning. Just waiting for a chance."
"I doubt you were waiting idly," Ibiki remarked dryly, her dark eyes easily readable for a single word. Elaborate.
Asuka glanced over at her tone, just her eyes flitting to the other woman's face. Waiting idly? ... well, perhaps not. She gotten what information she could, and committed that information to heart. That could be counted as planning, she supposed. But joining ANBU had been a decision made before she'd settled on killing Sasoriza as a suitable exchange for the damage the Akatsuki had wreaked; and being added to the Akatsuki tracking teams hadn't been her decision.
"I read the info we got... from Suna, about Sasoriza," she admitted, after a moment.
From the way Sarutobi spoke, it sounded like a personal investment instead of the standard interest in the capabilities of a dangerous target. "Why so interested in this particular Akatsuki?"
Because she'd attacked the village. Because she'd slaughtered nearly half of Konoha's ANBU without a second thought. Because she'd put Tenzouko in a coma for a year, a coma no one thought she'd ever wake back up from. Because she'd nearly killed Hanato. Because she'd nearly killed Kureno. But more than anything... because Asuka hadn't been there to do anything about it. When she should have been. When she would have been, had she not changed her mind last second for selfish reasons. Asuka would not go so far as to say any of it was her fault but... she should have protected them. And instead, she'd failed each and every one of them.
She turned her head away again. "Revenge." That was the most sense-making way she could think to explain it, anyway. Elaborate, Asuka, she could almost hear the mistress of T&I say. "For what she did to the village."
Ibiki hadn't had to say it; good. Things could progress more smoothly now. "Specifically, what she did to ANBU when she rescued Kabumi?"
"Yes." Hanato wasn't part of ANBU or even inside ANBU, but the rest of it involved around the members of and the people within the headquarters of ANBU, so it was a true enough response.
"Why did you lie to your Hokage?"
.... er. Well. She had technically lied to Tsurude, hadn't she. She might have been able to get away with it if things had gone differently - that is, she actually got away from the fight and came back intact rather than spitting up blood - but it was pretty obvious she'd lied now, wasn't it.
"Emotional investment." She closed her eyes. "He'd never let me near her... if he knew."
"Hypothetically speaking, who would you have had help you for the task of killing Sasoriza?"
".... help?" Asuka spoke her confusion out loud without entirely meaning to, but it worked - what did she mean by that? "Why would I have... wanted someone to help?"
Ibiki lifted a querying eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you?"
Once more she opened her eyes and looked at the other shinobi, expression easily relating the lack of understanding going on behind her eyes. "Why would I... want someone to help?" she asked again. There was no reason for her to want help, primarily because having anyone else with her would not have been help. "Other people would... limit what I could do. Limit my jutsu. And I would worry more about them... than meeting the objective. I wouldn't want anyone to help."
"Are you suicidal?" Ibiki asked softly and with real seriousness. Only an idiot would try and take on one of the Akatsuki by herself. By all rights, Sarutobi should not have survived long enough for Yuuhi and Kiyoyama to reach her. It wasn't anything to do with the antivenin - Sarutobi simply wasn't able to match Akasuna's reported skills.
And Akatsuki, Ibiki knew, never worked alone.
As it was... something out of the ordinary had happened out there. The squad she had sent out had reported that the puppets strewn everywhere had shown signs of massive decay in the wood. Further analysis of the puppets in T&I revealed said wood-rot had been accelerated. Akasuna's body itself suffered no such malady, and nothing of Sunagakure's profile on the woman indicated anything less than an anal retentiveness in regards to cleanliness and order that was almost obsessive-compulsive. That Akasuna hadn't taken care of that, had allowed it to happen... or did she? Ibiki doubted the missing-nin had been so careless. Sabotage? If so, who? And how?
On the flip side, if Asuka was suicidal... That opened up a whole other plethora of issues.
Asuka's reaction was immediate: she wrinkled her nose in disgust and gave Ibiki a rather nasty look.
"No," she responded, clearly insulted by being asked such a thing. Suicidal? Please. She might not have been able to convey the level of 'what the fuck are you smoking?' that she might have in other circumstances, but her reaction in this situation at least approximated it.
Good to know. Of course, choosing to face Akasuna alone was still asinine. Extremely poor decisions on all accounts, really.
Ibiki decided not to respond immediately again, in order to observe how Sarutobi was doing physically. She looked exhausted and a little frayed around the edges. Most likely due to not just the news of Yuuhi but also inner speculation as to why he behaved as he did. Ibiki felt she could ask one, maybe two more questions before depleting the other woman's reserves. "In regards to Sai and Uchiha, you did not have them with you for the assault on Akasuna because you felt you would be worried about them and worried about getting them out. Tell me, what about getting yourself out?"
Explaining that would take more breath than she had to devote to the answer. Half because getting away hadn't been the objective - killing Sasoriza had been the objective - and half because no one would really believe her if she said she'd fully expected to be capable of taking Sasoriza on. And she had been! .... sorta.
She wished she wasn't so drugged and odd-feeling, so she could just shrug in response. That was the best answer she could come up with, that best expressed what she thought of the answer. As it was... "Non-issue."
Is that so.
"Enough for today," Ibiki declared as she began packing up her knitting. "Rest assured I may return. If you recall anything else at any time, you are to get into contact with me, as part of our elaboration agreement." A click of the bag's clasp, and she straightened to her rather imposing height with the bag tucked under her arm. A slight nod before she walked to the door. She reached for the knob; paused. "Oh, by the way," she said as she glanced over her shoulder one more time, "you should consider yourself fortunate that Sai and Uchiha returned, Asuka. The direction where you sent them led straight to Itae."
And without giving the other the chance to respond, Ibiki was gone. She needn't say more; Sarutobi could torture herself with that knowledge with no further prompting.
Time didn't exactly pass normally for Asuka any more. Granted, it wasn't as disjointed as it had been - she was remembering more of what had happened and what was going on around her, for instance - but that was not to say that she could exactly tell you how long it had been since Rin had told her what had happened, or how long, precisely, she'd been sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really awake. It was, unsurprisingly for her nature, a little irritating.
The drugs helped a lot with that, though. Or... whatever it was they had going through her IV. They certainly did an excellent job of knocking her out every time another nurse came by to inject another dose. Like this last time.
Waking back up from a drug-induced coma was a ridiculously slow thing. It had become so commonplace at this point that she endured the slow waking of her synapses with long suffering patience. First she would realize she was staring at the ceiling, the real ceiling and not actually a dream ceiling. Then it would take her another twenty minutes to regain the ability to wiggle her fingers again. (Not that she wanted to. It was easier and created less of that painless pressure when she wiggled her toes instead.) Then she needed another ten minutes before conversation started making sense again, around which point she could pretend to be coherent again.
This time she woke up a lost faster. That was probably because when she woke up, it wasn't just the ceiling she was staring at. It was Ibiki, quietly knitting by the side of her hospital bed.
Yeah, you read that right. Knitting. Some little grayish black thing the same basic shade as her jacket and boots. You'd wake up fast too if that was the first thing you saw.
It only took about five minutes before she trusted herself to be capable of talking. The adrenaline helped with that, no doubt. (And the sound of her heart monitor speeding up no doubt helped, too.) But she didn't. If Ibiki had something to say, let her say it.
No doubt she had quite a lot to say.... and to ask.
Ever since this whole mess began, Ibiki's ever-watchful eye never strayed far from the hospital, and only shifted wards when a certain patient's condition warranted transferring to different areas. Sarutobi existed in the eye of a storm of her own making that spiraled out to touch many, making a conversation with her one of Ibiki's top priorities. However, in such a matter as this, care must be taken to ascertain she missed nothing in the course of this investigation. Patience. Patience and exacting thoroughness, two qualities which made her so damn good at her job. And really, this conversation provided nothing more than a means to the end of finding out what in the hell happened.
While Sarutobi waking up immediately upon Ibiki's entrance would have helped to progress things that much more smoothly, she didn't honestly believe herself that fortunate. She expected to wait a considerable amount of time before Sarutobi woke. She knew Sarutobi regained consciousness previously. Those times she simply allowed Sarutobi to first reorient herself in the conscious world. The mind needed time to clear away the dregs of medicinal fog that clouded the mind, and muscles must remember just how to function correctly. Once the nurses and doctors judged among themselves that Sarutobi met the prerequisite benchmarks for stringing along coherent thoughts, Ibiki entered the picture.
She'd avoided Kiyoyama easily. Dealing with him and having the confrontation end in a way that was conducive to him still being functional meant there could be no confrontation in the first place. And once inside Sarutobi's room, Ibiki would remain there until she chose to leave. For as long as she touched nothing on Sarutobi's person, the hospital staff's complaints amounted to very little at best. She was on the Hokage's business after all.
Most people, when confronted with an extended unavoidable wait, chose to entertain themselves by sleeping, snacking, or reading. Ibiki read at home, she slept where none could bother her (sole exception being Aki, and one of these days she would figure out why it is she hadn't killed him yet), and snacking held the potential to make her gain unnecessary weight. Therefore, she chose knitting as a mindless, repetitive activity to give her fingers exercise while her mind followed very different thoughts.
Her eyes never strayed from the row she currently purled when Sarutobi's heart monitor sped up. Actually, about a dozen more rows and the hat would've been finished. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Sarutobi. How do you feel?" Ah, well. She would finish this row before setting the knitting aside.
Oh. Darn. Caught already.
Asuka only blinked in reply, not entirely ready to speak though she was fairly certain she wouldn't be slurring to much if she was careful. (It was annoying what an impediment the drugs were, not to mention her severely decreased lung capacity.) Her lung was repaired enough that the doctors apparently felt it was safe to let her breathe on her on own, but it sometimes didn't feel that way, even with the drugs blocking the constant pressure of pain in her chest.
She turned her head slightly in Ibiki's direction, but said nothing. If Ibiki wanted small talk, she could say it all herself; she didn't have the energy to keep up her side of the conversation.
A thin smile momentarily graced Ibiki's features. Receiving an actual response was a bit much, but she supposed it hadn't hurt to try. She said nothing for a while as she finished her row. A little beaded hook as a marker to remind her which stitch she'd used on that row was added before rolling the knitting up and putting it into the small bag beside her chair. (The reactions to the bag had been priceless. No one wanted to ask what was in it, and her comment of "Just a little something to keep me busy" produced wide eyes and long steps taken in every direction but towards her.) Hands free, she flexed her fingers before crossing her legs at the knee and and leaning back enough to put one arm on the windowsill.
"You've caused quite the stir during your last mission. I don't suppose you would like to explain just why you decided to run off on your own like you did?"
This was probably a really bad time for her to be questioned. She was still pretty heavily drugged on narcotics - and she wouldn't be the first person to run off at the mouth due to the uninhibiting effect of narcotics. Brain and mouth, it had been proven, didn't always communicate before spouting out.
On the other hand, though, she couldn't just give a confession. Asuka knew she didn't have the energy for that, and that thankfully limited just how much she could run off. If Ibiki wanted answers, she was going to have to ask the right questions.
"Short questions," she said. Her voice was faint, husky, and had a breathy quality that indicated how much effort she had to put into expelling the air necessary to talk. "Short answers. Can't talk much."
Good thing Ibiki cleared her day for this. Even so, questioning would more than probably consist of several sessions. She studied Asuka intently as she mentally altered her questions into ones to elicit the most useful information.
"Scheduled departure time for your mission."
That wasn't actually a question, but Asuka probably wasn't in a position to be nit-picky, was she? Well, she probably could be, but it certainly wouldn't earn her any brownie points.
To the question. When did they leave? It wasn't so much that there was a 'scheduled' anything, so much as she ordered the two chuunin to show up STAT. But she had specified a time for them to be at the west gate...
"Twenty-one hundred hours."
Ibiki ticked that off mentally. "Teammates? Family names will suffice."
What, wasn't that obvious? She'd only told Tsurude exactly who was going with her. "Uchiha." ..... crap, what was that other girls family name again? "... and Sai."
"What about Nara Shikako?"
"Mission."
"Your mission objective?"
Right. What exactly had she told Tsurude again? Asuka was silent for a moment, letting her eyes slip back closed as she tried to sift through her murky, drugged memory. It took a few moments before she responded. "Find Sasoriza. If nothing, come home." She took a breath and reopened her eyes. "If found, tail and send word."
"And once word was sent?"
"Wait for orders." Not that this was exactly what happened, nor what she had planned to do in the first place, but that was the mission objectives, as stated.
"How many vials of antivenin did you request for the mission?"
"Six."
"Who did you request them from?"
.... this was starting to get a little odd. All of these questions should be on paper somewhere. Don't say Ibiki hadn't done her research first? "... Rin."
Ibiki watched her shrewdly, dark eyes intent while the face remained bland. Hopped up on drugs as she was, Sarutobi couldn't keep her own face as controlled and thus Ibiki saw more than the jounin would have liked. Sarutobi, while not considered a genius, still possessed a keen intellect. Especially for strategy. Give her enough time and she could spin up quite the ensnaring net. Ibiki had no intention of giving her that time.
"How did you distribute the vials?"
And while it made sense to go to Kiyoyama (he and Sarutobi knew each other, were friends, and had the mutual connections of Yuuhi and Hatake), the information Ibiki would keep in mind as random trivia.
The immediate response Ibiki received was a slow blink and no other obvious reaction. Internally, however, Asuka was doing the 'oh shit' dance, and that was made obvious by the barely perceivable increase of speed in the annoying beeps of her heart monitor. That wasn't something she could lie about, because Sai and Sachiko would certainly know how many they were given (and turn them back in unused) and I don't remember, however plausible it might be, simply wouldn't stand up against Sai and Sachiko's statements. The other four vials had to have gone somewhere.
So she went for the third route.
"Short questions," she reminded Ibiki. "Short answers." Because she couldn't give an entirely short answer to that question. If she was going to get locked in, she didn't want to waste her breath on it.
Ibiki tipped her head, nothing about her demeanor or posture displaying what she felt. She simply continued to observe with all her senses and ask questions.
"Kureno was arrested after he and Rin returned with you. How many vials did you give Sai?"
The heart monitor betrayed her again, only this time much more obviously. And it hurt, a dull far-away pounding in her chest - it shouldn't hurt for her heart to suddenly start beating that fast, should it?
Asuka's eyes widened, and confusion conflicted with alarm in her expression. Nothing after the first statement was even heard. "What?"
"How many vials did you give Sai?" Ibiki asked again as the epitome of patience.
"No." Asuka was strongly tempted to shake her head, but (wisely) changed her mind at the last second. "What you first said."
One eyebrow lifted in a display of surprise. "About Kureno? He was arrested." The eyebrow fell back into place. "But that discussion can be saved until later. How many vials did you give Sai?"
Oh. That's what she thought she'd heard.
...
Kureno was arrested?!
"Why?" There was no point in even trying to hide the tone of something quite close to betrayal in her voice. Why would Kureno be arrested? There was no one who walked the line tighter than him. What in the world could he have possibly done to get arrested?
"As I recall, he was arrested for treason. The full account of his crimes, and the punishment assigned, are public knowledge. Therefore I will disclose the information to you, but not until after you and I have finished our current discussion about your mission. A little focus would be appreciated, Sarutobi, so we might expedite this." Ibiki's glare was cool. "How many vials did you give Sai?"
Treason? That was impossible. That was fucking impossible. That was so goddamn fucking impossible that Asuka was sure that Orochimayu would become the next Hokage at the rate things were going. There was quite simply no way.
"No." This time Asuka did shake her head, albeit very slightly; that she could do so at all was probably a good indication of her agitation. "Don't fucking lie to me."
"I have no reason to lie to you, Sarutobi. You are a highly-ranked shinobi in excellent standing" --for now-- "and as I said, the information regarding Kureno is public knowledge. You could easily find the truth on your own by asking around. Also as I said, I will tell you the details after we have finished. The more you cooperate, the faster we shall reach that point. Am I clear?"
"You don't need any goddamn answers." Asuka's breath ran out at the end of the last word, and she sucked in an angry, greedy breath to replenish it. Her glare was slow to develop, but between that, the rate her heart monitor was going, and the harsh edge to her already hoarse words, cooperation had just flown out the window. "You already know. Why?"
Sarutobi's anger had no effect on Ibiki except to glance at the machines the wounded jounin was hooked up to. She said nothing, waiting patiently for Sarutobi to calm down enough that the heart monitor slowed to something approaching a more natural tempo. All the while, Sarutobi glared hatefully.
"If I already knew the answers, then I would not be here." Clearly, as Ibiki did have other tasks she could be doing. "But I am here." Such was life. "If you will not give me the answers I am looking for, then you will give them to me so I may relay them to the Hokage. I am here to discuss your mission, Sarutobi, not anything regarding Kureno. I said I would tell you about him when we are finished, as a courtesy. But you will first do me the courtesy of answering my questions.
"How many vials did you give Sai?"
Asuka's heart beat only slowed because Ibiki wasn't continuing to provide the impetus for fight-or-flight. This did not mean that her anger or glare abated any. If anything, it only sharpened at the other woman's words, and her voice was tight in response. "As many as she needed."
"A number."
"As many as she needed."
"I want to know the exact number of vials that you gave Sai."
If it was possible, Asuka's glare only sharpened further. "I want a cigarette. Life sucks."
Ibiki just looked at her. Inside, she was sighing. The Sarutobi stubbornness she knew was especially strong in this one. So much for the drugs countering it in even a small way that still left the mind otherwise clear. Bothersome, especially in this situation. Time for a change in approach.
Then she smiled just a bit and with genuine amusement. If nothing else, Sarutobi had proven an entertaining plaything before. How nice that she would so again. "Suppose I told you more about Kureno now instead of later." Ibiki paused and shifted forward, just enough of a leer on her face for Sarutobi to notice while her eyes skimmed lightly over the other woman's blanket-draped form. "What, then, would I get in return?"
Give a little to get substantially more.
For a moment, Asuka only stared at her blankly. It wasn't too unusual a question - Asuka, herself, frequently asked the 'what do I get out of it?' question when someone she wasn't immediate friends with asked for a favor. But hearing this coming out of Ibiki? That was a bit... strange. Obviously she would answer questions. Wasn't that obvious?
And then, after a few seconds, she finally caught on to the look she was being given: a suggestive leer that, while very subtle, still gave the impression of what exactly was on Ibiki's mind. Unbidden, an old memory she'd thought she'd done a good job of deliberately forgetting came back to her, of her first tour of ANBU. Asuka paled.
A few more moments passed as she visibly gathered herself and found her words again. "You answer me... I'll answer you." After all, she was already damned, wasn't she?
Satisfied Sarutobi understood what wasn't being said, Ibiki nevertheless remained as she was except to prop her elbow on her knee, wrist bent so her chin rested on knuckles. "That's not good enough," she returned, "Asuka."
".................................... what do you want?"
To prolong the obvious tension, Ibiki looked thoughtful for a handful of heartbeats before refocusing. "Elaboration."
Ibiki's expression was worrisome. Extremely worrisome. Worrisome enough that if Asuka's heart monitor hadn't already been betraying her, it would have done so yet again. However, with enough time Ibiki opened her mouth again, and what came out was what Asuka'd first expected and was extremely thankful to hear. Thank Chiriku's gods for small favors.
Elaboration. Right. That meant not just answering the bare minimum asked. ... might as well, all things considered, especially considering her vulnerable state right now.
"... agreed," she said quietly.
"Excellent." Ibiki showed just a glimmer of white teeth as she settled back in her chair. She folded her hands together, fingers interlacing as she schooled her face to something more businesslike. "Kureno asked for and received permission to participate in an S-ranked mission with an anticipated twenty-percent success rate. Despite his initial inclination to refuse, Hokage-sama allowed it. Six hours before the mission's scheduled departure, Kureno was approached by your monk-friend Chiriku, and then Rin joined them soon after. Chiriku somehow had knowledge of not just your mission, but your intended destination, and wanted him to have someone go after you. Rin decided as Kureno's superior that the two of them would be the ones to fetch you back. Kureno left Chiriku with the instructions to inform the council heads of what they were doing.
"At no point did Kureno mention the mission he was already a part of," she continued. "Due to the nature of the mission, and that Hokage-sama had been disinclined to permit Kureno's involvement, Hyuuga-sama received the dispensation from the Hokage to charge and arrest him for treason. Judgement was suspended pending the investigation as well as the Hokage's return from the jounin exam.
"The investigation did not find evidence sufficient to maintain the charge of treason. However, he was found guilty of additional charges: mission abandonment, first degree; dereliction of duty, first degree; insubordination, first degree; conduct unbecoming a shinobi, third degree. The Hokage declared that his punishment would be to spend an additional two weeks in jail, followed by janitorial duty at the Academy until such time as the Hokage believes that the Academy students have learned just why a high-ranked jounin is doing such menial labor. He is stripped of his genin team and barred from teaching anyone anything. He will not be assigned another teaching position, period. He will be unable to learn new jutsu, himself, as well as accept any missions higher than C-rank unless the mission cannot succeed without him.
"His story of what and why he abandoned the mission is public knowledge, as is his punishment. He cannot resign. In the end, he will be forgotten. Considering he is the last of his line, that shouldn't take more than two generations."
............ how could he....
Asuka... genuinely didn't know what to think. For far too long after Ibiki had finished speaking, her brain was just... blank, devoid of words or any reaction. What she'd been told was just so... incomprehensible... impossible. Kureno would never abandon a mission. He was just so... duty-oriented that... that it was just impossible.
But her attack on Sasoriza had been at least a week ago already, and Rin had sort-of-implied that something crazy had happened, even if he hadn't told her the details (and she hadn't remembered to ask again until just now). And despite expecting it - knowing he would - Kureno hadn't stopped by once. There hadn't been any circumstances in which Kureno had failed to visited her at the hospital, quite swiftly, unless something else was keeping him away. Like a mission... or prison.
She looked away from Ibiki, rolling her head away to stare unseeing in the other direction. She didn't... she just couldn't understand it. Abandoning a mission was one thing. Abandoning an S-ranked mission that the Hokage hadn't even wanted to give to you in the first place... that was another. Kureno abandoning an S-ranked mission that the Hokage hadn't wanted to give to him in the first place... was just... it went so far against the grain of what she knew of him. It was the complete opposite of anything he would ever do - ranking right up there with betraying the village. He would never do it. He would never do it.
Only he had... to come after her. Which made it...
Why?
"No redemption?" Her voice was almost painfully soft; almost hopeless.
Gods, her chest hurt.
"That is for the Hokage to decide." Ibiki eyed Asuka, then asked, "What is the exact number of vials of antivenin you gave to Sai?"
For the Hokage to decide.
Asuka closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing, concentrated on the rhythm of her heart and the gentle pulse of the oxygen tube taped under her nose, anything to not think.
"One," she replied, numbly.
"And Uchiha?"
"One."
"What did you do with the remaining four?"
Used them to kill Sasoriza. Though only three had actually been used, that she knew of; she didn't think she'd gotten the chance to use the fourth before she'd passed out.
"Kept them for myself."
Ibiki knew from watching Sarutobi and from previous encounters with her that she habitually held back information. Even with the agreement, habit was hard to break. "Elaboration, Asuka," Ibiki reminded the other mildly.
"... to kill Sasoriza." Her words were grudging, but more defeated than anything else. If she had the breath to say more, she wasn't sure she could.
"Take your time," Ibiki suggested gently, encouragingly. "No rush. Now, your mission parameters stated you were to locate Sasoriza, and only to kill if given the order. Why were you keeping the vials in order to kill Sasoriza?"
An explanation as to why was something... even she wasn't sure she could answer yet. Other than simply wanting to, which just wasn't good enough. Just like with Kureno, 'because' would never be good enough. Emotion was not good enough without a thorough scouring of facts, and sometimes not even after that. How could she come up with an explanation that would be 'good enough' on the fly like this?
... she would because she had to. Didn't have to like it; just had to do it. Because she owed Kureno, if nothing else.
"I wanted to." Wanted to so bad she'd spent countless nights reading and re-reading the information on Sasoriza that Suna had been good enough to give them, information she'd been able to access with her clearance levels and had copied for herself. Information she could repeat from memory, if given a moment to recall it past the drugs. "When Dai gave me the report... I knew I'd have a chance to." She took a breath. "I sent Sai and the Uchiha... away in a different direction so... they wouldn't need any antivenin. Just me."
"Councilwoman Dai gave you the report?"
"She gave it to me after... I'd come back in from patrol." Came looking straight for her, it seemed like. "She said she brought it to me... because Gaia was out. That it needed to come to me."
"She came looking for you directly?"
"Yes."
"How did Chiriku know about your mission, Asuka?"
She took a moment to review that question. Chiriku knew because Asuka had... sort of told her, and Chiriku was sharp enough to put two and two together. But Ibiki had said previously that Chiriku had even know her destination; how was that possible? She hadn't told anyone her ultimate destination. There was no way the monk could have possibly known.
Asuka rolled her head back to stare up at the ceiling, brows furrowing slightly.
"I implied that I wanted Sasoriza once," she said slowly. "And I implied I was going after her. But... I didn't say where I was going."
"Did you tell anyone where you were going?"
"... no."
"Any suppositions on how, then, Chiriku knew your location?"
"No. It's... not possible."
"You did not tell Sai and Uchiha?"
"No. I told them to... head north, while I headed south. I didn't tell them... where south I was going."
"Why not?"
Because she didn't want them involved, duh. "Why tell them if... I didn't want them in the fight? They would just... get in the way. And I didn't want them hurt."
"Elaborate."
"The Uchiha's sharingan would be useless." As Asuka'd learned a long time ago from Kakami, the sharingan could only predict the motion of objects that had intent. That was to say, people, animals, and thrown objects (provided said thrown objects weren't kicked off course by wind or other such things). As Sasoriza's puppets were never directed physically by hand, there would be no intent - and therefore nothing for the sharingan to see. "Sai is unpredictable." Quite a problem considering she was Sai's superior both in the Akatsuki teams and in ANBU, yet frequently got sass and not-quite insubordination. Even Sachiko was more obedient than Sai.
And most importantly... "And I couldn't concentrate on... killing Sasoriza if they were there. I'd be more worried... about them, and getting them out. So I sent them off."
"Asuka, just how long have you been planning for an encounter with Sasoriza?"
Another tricky question. Primarily because... she hadn't been planning it, per se. She'd been... wanting it, craving it, waiting until she could have it, but never out-right planning it. Just waiting for the time to be right, because she would know when it was right. Her chance would come if she was just patient.
Only maybe the time hadn't been as right as she'd initially thought. No matter whether she'd succeeded in her ultimate goal or not.
"I...." Her brows furrowed more. How could she explain this? "...haven't been planning. Just waiting for a chance."
"I doubt you were waiting idly," Ibiki remarked dryly, her dark eyes easily readable for a single word. Elaborate.
Asuka glanced over at her tone, just her eyes flitting to the other woman's face. Waiting idly? ... well, perhaps not. She gotten what information she could, and committed that information to heart. That could be counted as planning, she supposed. But joining ANBU had been a decision made before she'd settled on killing Sasoriza as a suitable exchange for the damage the Akatsuki had wreaked; and being added to the Akatsuki tracking teams hadn't been her decision.
"I read the info we got... from Suna, about Sasoriza," she admitted, after a moment.
From the way Sarutobi spoke, it sounded like a personal investment instead of the standard interest in the capabilities of a dangerous target. "Why so interested in this particular Akatsuki?"
Because she'd attacked the village. Because she'd slaughtered nearly half of Konoha's ANBU without a second thought. Because she'd put Tenzouko in a coma for a year, a coma no one thought she'd ever wake back up from. Because she'd nearly killed Hanato. Because she'd nearly killed Kureno. But more than anything... because Asuka hadn't been there to do anything about it. When she should have been. When she would have been, had she not changed her mind last second for selfish reasons. Asuka would not go so far as to say any of it was her fault but... she should have protected them. And instead, she'd failed each and every one of them.
She turned her head away again. "Revenge." That was the most sense-making way she could think to explain it, anyway. Elaborate, Asuka, she could almost hear the mistress of T&I say. "For what she did to the village."
Ibiki hadn't had to say it; good. Things could progress more smoothly now. "Specifically, what she did to ANBU when she rescued Kabumi?"
"Yes." Hanato wasn't part of ANBU or even inside ANBU, but the rest of it involved around the members of and the people within the headquarters of ANBU, so it was a true enough response.
"Why did you lie to your Hokage?"
.... er. Well. She had technically lied to Tsurude, hadn't she. She might have been able to get away with it if things had gone differently - that is, she actually got away from the fight and came back intact rather than spitting up blood - but it was pretty obvious she'd lied now, wasn't it.
"Emotional investment." She closed her eyes. "He'd never let me near her... if he knew."
"Hypothetically speaking, who would you have had help you for the task of killing Sasoriza?"
".... help?" Asuka spoke her confusion out loud without entirely meaning to, but it worked - what did she mean by that? "Why would I have... wanted someone to help?"
Ibiki lifted a querying eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you?"
Once more she opened her eyes and looked at the other shinobi, expression easily relating the lack of understanding going on behind her eyes. "Why would I... want someone to help?" she asked again. There was no reason for her to want help, primarily because having anyone else with her would not have been help. "Other people would... limit what I could do. Limit my jutsu. And I would worry more about them... than meeting the objective. I wouldn't want anyone to help."
"Are you suicidal?" Ibiki asked softly and with real seriousness. Only an idiot would try and take on one of the Akatsuki by herself. By all rights, Sarutobi should not have survived long enough for Yuuhi and Kiyoyama to reach her. It wasn't anything to do with the antivenin - Sarutobi simply wasn't able to match Akasuna's reported skills.
And Akatsuki, Ibiki knew, never worked alone.
As it was... something out of the ordinary had happened out there. The squad she had sent out had reported that the puppets strewn everywhere had shown signs of massive decay in the wood. Further analysis of the puppets in T&I revealed said wood-rot had been accelerated. Akasuna's body itself suffered no such malady, and nothing of Sunagakure's profile on the woman indicated anything less than an anal retentiveness in regards to cleanliness and order that was almost obsessive-compulsive. That Akasuna hadn't taken care of that, had allowed it to happen... or did she? Ibiki doubted the missing-nin had been so careless. Sabotage? If so, who? And how?
On the flip side, if Asuka was suicidal... That opened up a whole other plethora of issues.
Asuka's reaction was immediate: she wrinkled her nose in disgust and gave Ibiki a rather nasty look.
"No," she responded, clearly insulted by being asked such a thing. Suicidal? Please. She might not have been able to convey the level of 'what the fuck are you smoking?' that she might have in other circumstances, but her reaction in this situation at least approximated it.
Good to know. Of course, choosing to face Akasuna alone was still asinine. Extremely poor decisions on all accounts, really.
Ibiki decided not to respond immediately again, in order to observe how Sarutobi was doing physically. She looked exhausted and a little frayed around the edges. Most likely due to not just the news of Yuuhi but also inner speculation as to why he behaved as he did. Ibiki felt she could ask one, maybe two more questions before depleting the other woman's reserves. "In regards to Sai and Uchiha, you did not have them with you for the assault on Akasuna because you felt you would be worried about them and worried about getting them out. Tell me, what about getting yourself out?"
Explaining that would take more breath than she had to devote to the answer. Half because getting away hadn't been the objective - killing Sasoriza had been the objective - and half because no one would really believe her if she said she'd fully expected to be capable of taking Sasoriza on. And she had been! .... sorta.
She wished she wasn't so drugged and odd-feeling, so she could just shrug in response. That was the best answer she could come up with, that best expressed what she thought of the answer. As it was... "Non-issue."
Is that so.
"Enough for today," Ibiki declared as she began packing up her knitting. "Rest assured I may return. If you recall anything else at any time, you are to get into contact with me, as part of our elaboration agreement." A click of the bag's clasp, and she straightened to her rather imposing height with the bag tucked under her arm. A slight nod before she walked to the door. She reached for the knob; paused. "Oh, by the way," she said as she glanced over her shoulder one more time, "you should consider yourself fortunate that Sai and Uchiha returned, Asuka. The direction where you sent them led straight to Itae."
And without giving the other the chance to respond, Ibiki was gone. She needn't say more; Sarutobi could torture herself with that knowledge with no further prompting.