Dosu's Great Escape

Chapter Four: The Wedge

Ibiki was not in a good mood.

His not-good mood became outright bad when the door opened and Anko entered. He looked up from his paperwork. "Yes?"

"So the kids are planning something," said Anko.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Ibiki.

"Just a general intuition," said Anko. "Plus they've been cooperating way too much. If I know Orochimaru he has them brainwashed better than that.

"No, they'll try something sooner or later. But judging from how they've been on their best behavior, I'm thinking they'll wait for the right moment."

Ibiki looked her in the eye. "So what do you intend to do about this?"

"Right now they are chafing at the bit," said Anko, "maybe we could give them more responsibilities."

"You doubt their loyalties," said Ibiki. "So you want to trust them with a more important mission."

"Why not?" asked Anko. "D rank missions are beneath them, and they know it. They want to do real jobs. If we give them something to do where they can feel a sense of accomplishment, they'll be in less of a hurry to leave."

Ibiki eyed her cautiously. "What is your eventual plan with this?"

"Orochimaru had me pretty well brainwashed," said Anko, "he finds you at your weakest and makes your whole world revolve around him. But if you get out from his clutches for a while, his charm wears off. He doesn't have the same hold on you. If they come to like working for the Leaf Village they may decide not to go back. And I can keep an eye on them just as easily when they're dealing with bandits as when they're painting fences."

"That might work." conceded Ibiki. "But I will not authorize taking the armguards off."

"Fine," said Anko, "I'll equip them with standard-issue stuff. Kunai, explosive tags-"

"No explosives," said Ibiki.

Anko smirked. "Just checking to see if you're awake."

Ibiki remained silent for a moment. "You're taking a serious risk trying to rehabilitate these kids, Anko," he said at last.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" asked Anko. "You wanted me to come up with a solution. The alternative is throwing them in prison and tossing away the key?"

"Point taken." conceded Ibiki.

He looked back to his papers.

"You don't seem as assertive as usual, Ibiki," said Anko.

"You're right. I'm not," admitted Ibiki. "The chunin exams are coming up. We're holding them in the Leaf Village for the fourth time this decade."

"So, what's the problem?" asked Anko.

Ibiki thought of the problem. "The problem is that my younger brother is going to be taking part in them."

"Oh, really?" asked Anko. "Congratulations."

"He's going to fail," said Ibiki.

"Well, that's a bit cynical." mused Anko. "Why are you so hard on the kid?"

Ibiki shrugged. "His team doesn't cooperate. Even if he makes it past the written exam, they'll be weeded out."

"Ah, right." Anko leaned against a wall. "Well, it is a risk everyone has to take. We don't pass out contracts for no reason."

"Just go," said Ibiki.

Anko stood up and walked to the door. Opening it, she slipped out into the hall.