Welcome to Konoha [Tsurude, Hizashiko, Ibiki]
Two days after he received Ibiki's report and the preliminary medical examination, Tsurude walked into ANBU headquarters for the first time in nearly six months.
Most of the looks he received were of surprise. Not surprising; when the Hokage needed something from ANBU, they came to him, not the other way around. But this was different - this was a delicate situation that required he handle things personally, in person, on site. He couldn't afford even a single word of this situation getting out, not yet, and while he trusted Ibiki implicitly (she was a fanatic, and you could always trust a fanatic to be fanatical), he did not trust her department. There had been too many leaks over the last two years to allow for any chance of discovery.
Because if he handled this incorrectly, he risked plunging the entire country into war.
The Hokage's honor guard ringed 'round him, preceding him down the sterile hallways and following him down dark stairwells. Their silent presence kept away of their fellow comrades-in-arms, who were also eligible for the honor guard but had either not been selected or did not meet the minimum qualifications. The honor guard had a reputation for being creepy, too, even more so than the regular ANBU. It was a good thing Tsurude knew all their faces personally - he was often their sole medic, above and beyond the ANBU one - and was beyond being moved by such supposed creepiness. Otherwise, he'd never be able to sleep at night, knowing they were always within earshot, if not closer.
Ibiki's office was on the second sub-level, with the records and cells for the less dangerous criminls and detainees. Seeing as the headquarters had a tendancy to be rather nocternal, the halls down here were not as busy as they might be otherwise, giving him quick access to her office without the need for stopping and talking to anyone. Good; the less people who noticed him the better. Not that rumor was going to spare him or anything.
One of the ANBU preceding him knocked cordially on the door to Ibiki's office. At the quiet Come in that issued forth, the door was opened and briefly checked by the same ANBU before Tsurude entered.
She was already on her feet when he stepped in. Good. He nodded respectfully to her. "Is everything ready?"
Most of the looks he received were of surprise. Not surprising; when the Hokage needed something from ANBU, they came to him, not the other way around. But this was different - this was a delicate situation that required he handle things personally, in person, on site. He couldn't afford even a single word of this situation getting out, not yet, and while he trusted Ibiki implicitly (she was a fanatic, and you could always trust a fanatic to be fanatical), he did not trust her department. There had been too many leaks over the last two years to allow for any chance of discovery.
Because if he handled this incorrectly, he risked plunging the entire country into war.
The Hokage's honor guard ringed 'round him, preceding him down the sterile hallways and following him down dark stairwells. Their silent presence kept away of their fellow comrades-in-arms, who were also eligible for the honor guard but had either not been selected or did not meet the minimum qualifications. The honor guard had a reputation for being creepy, too, even more so than the regular ANBU. It was a good thing Tsurude knew all their faces personally - he was often their sole medic, above and beyond the ANBU one - and was beyond being moved by such supposed creepiness. Otherwise, he'd never be able to sleep at night, knowing they were always within earshot, if not closer.
Ibiki's office was on the second sub-level, with the records and cells for the less dangerous criminls and detainees. Seeing as the headquarters had a tendancy to be rather nocternal, the halls down here were not as busy as they might be otherwise, giving him quick access to her office without the need for stopping and talking to anyone. Good; the less people who noticed him the better. Not that rumor was going to spare him or anything.
One of the ANBU preceding him knocked cordially on the door to Ibiki's office. At the quiet Come in that issued forth, the door was opened and briefly checked by the same ANBU before Tsurude entered.
She was already on her feet when he stepped in. Good. He nodded respectfully to her. "Is everything ready?"