In Their Shadow

Chapter 51

'Where the hell is it coming from!? Am I going crazy!?'

Steeling his resolve, and balling his hands into a fist, he drew a deep breath, and whipped his head around, ready to see whatever it was that was watching him...

But nothing was there.

"...What the hell is up with me this morning?"

"Yo Ibiki, the hell are you doing just standing there weirdo?"

Ibiki's tension left his body, the new voice bringing him an odd sense of comfort. He smirked, turning to meet the woman's eyes head on.

"Weirdo? Look who's talking Anko." Ibiki said with a hint of snark, meeting the grinning woman's gaze.

"Ha, that's funny. You talk like you fight, terribly." Anko bit back, putting a hand on her hip.

"Yeah yeah, I assume the Hokage sent you here so that I could babysit you?" Ibiki half asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nah, he sent me to watch you since you always take your job way too seriously." Anko responded smugly.

"Pft, yeah, sure." Ibiki rolled his eyes, walking past her with a grin.

"He diiiiid." She whined, keeping pace with him as she pouted.

"Yeah yeah." He just nodded, not bothering to come up with a serious response.

The two bickered back and forth jokingly, as they began to approach Hokage's Tower. The mildew dripping from the leaves gave the trail a humid feel, as Ibiki Morino quickly forgot the foreboding feeling he had held within a minute prior. Entering the building, they both went silent, entering 'work mode' on instinct. He took in the faces of all those entering the building, his comrades, his subordinates, and some faces his never seen before.

'Those must be the Root huh...'

"Those guys must be Danzo's henchman." Anko said beneath her breath, just loud enough for Ibiki to catch.

"Seems so. And I'm willing to guess the ones we see here are only a fraction." Ibiki replied back.

Anko nodded, eyeing the Root ninja with caution. Ibiki took notice, and frowned.

"We have no right to judge them considering our line of work and history."

Anko flinched when he mentioned history, glaring at him slightly.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"...I'm sorry, that was rude of me. But you get the point. Besides, Danzo might not be a team player, but he gets the job done. I should know, who do you think taught me and Hayate?" Ibiki said, giving an apologetic nod.

"...Yeah. But the last two times we didn't have a team player, Orochimaru betrayed the village...And then...your-...Well, you know who abandoned us."

Ibiki went silent for a brief moment, before responding.

"Yeah...Him."