"Hm. How would you feel if we were to bring you into the intelligence sector?" he asked. Sakura blinked.
"You want to recruit me?"
::
"Recruit is a strong word, Sakura-chan," Genma said. "You're just a suitable person that we want to join our forces."
"... You realize that's the definition of recruit, right, Shiranui-san?"
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Sakura turned her gaze to the window as she considered their offer. She could deny it, but she had to say, an offer like this could really help her along the way and give her the extra training she needed to increase a lot of aspects about herself. For one, if she had training within this sector, she could raise her chakra capacity even further than she had done for herself. The capacity she had now wasn't satisfying, as she could only train on the water's surface for about forty-five minutes before she ran dangerously low.
"I would accept the offer," she said, "but you'd have to ask my parents first, and I don't know what they'll say."
She wasn't lying that time. Content with the answer, Ibiki stood. "Shiranui, show Haruno around the building. I'll be no more than an hour."
He sauntered out of the office, leaving Genma to smile down at the small girl. "So, Sakura-chan. Shall we get going? The building's pre~tty big."
::
It took a lot to get Ibiki genuinely interested. He had been in the T&I for a number of years and had seen his fair share of different personalities and attitudes, but never had he seen a child like that Haruno Sakura. He knew how kids acted as he once had a younger brother himself. Kids were supposed to be a bit ignorant, carefree, and have a bit of naivety no matter who they were. Hell, even Uchiha kids acted like normal kids-- and their entire clan had sticks up their asses.
Something was severely wrong with her. Really. And he was going to figure out what it was.
The particular aspect about her that bothered him the most were her eyes. They looked... tired. Not the I-didn't-get-enough-sleep kind of tired, but the I've-seen-too-much kind of tired. But what could she have seen? There was something else unsettling about her eyes. Along with that tired look was something sort of... haunted.
The only time he'd seen that kind of haunted look was from a war veteran who had seen their friends die around them. Or he'd see that look in victims of things like abuse or trauma.
Ibiki walked down a residential street to an apartment complex chock full of civilians. He quietly slipped through the small crowds of people and went to the fifth floor and the last door down the hall. It was a Saturday-- they should be home. He knocked twice. A blonde woman answered the door, eyes widening in surprise when she saw the hitai-ate on his forehead.
"What can I do for you, Shinobi-san?"
"My name is Morino Ibiki, and I have a few questions to ask you about your daughter—Haruno Sakura."
She stepped to the side and let him in. Once through the threshold, Ibiki observed the decor. It looked like any normal, caring household. Mebuki led him to the kitchen and motioned him to sit down as she bustled about to get him tea. She soon poured two cups and sat down across from him.
"So what is it about Sakura? She's not in trouble, is she?"
"Not at all, Haruno-san. It's actually quite the opposite. Your daughter has shown shown some exceptional qualities for a shinobi despite her young age. My associate and I believe she has great potential to develop her skills in the intelligence sector, and even though she has yet to start the Academy, we would like to bring her under an internship of sorts," he said. Ibiki anticipated her to give him an absolute look of disgust or shock, but she only sighed.
"Lately, Sakura has been so mature and withdrawn. It was as if one day, she woke up a completely different person. I don't know what goes through that girl's head anymore. I even found multiple scrolls filled with protection seals under her bed."
Ibiki wasn't aware that Sakura was capable of making her own seals. That information only tacked on more of his interest.
"She even went out of her way to make friends with Uzumaki Naruto. And he's quite a nice boy. A bit loud, but who isn't?"
His interest furthered even more. Mebuki sighed again and took a sip of her tea. "I'll let her take the internship if that's what she wants," she complied. "I know she'll just go with it anyways if we decide to deny it. All I ask is that you send something like progress reports every now and then."
Ibiki gave her a strange look. "Progress reports? Won't she just tell you the things she's learned or the things she's done?" he asked. Mebuki shook her head, a sad smile on her face.
"Sakura tells us things, but never goes into detail about the things she does. You see," she explained, "on weekdays we don't get to see her in the day because of our jobs, and my husband sometimes longer because there would be days he'd be forced to take on extra hours on the weekends, like today. On those days, she leaves bunshins and goes off to do who knows what. I don't think she realizes that I'd sometimes see her out and about the village even when our neighbor says she's been in the apartment all day."
Mebuki looked thoroughly dejected at this as her eyes clouded over. Ibiki leaned back slightly in his seat, mulling over what he just learned. Making seals, befriending the village pariah, and having the ability to make clones... Sakura was very quickly edging into child prodigy territory.
"I hope that you and your associate could help Sakura develop her skills and bring her out of her shell."
Ibiki inclined his head. "We'll try our very best, Haruno-san."
Mebuki smiled and took another sip of her tea.
::
"So, first floor's just the lobby. Sometimes you'll see Hagane Kotetsu as the receptionist, other times Kamizuki Izumo or Tobitake Tonbo. A lot of the times, the desk is empty though. We fill it if we can. Second floor is where our holding cells are. Top notch stuff. Third are the offices, as you could see, and the basement is where all the nasty stuff goes down." Genma grinned, "We could take a quick peek if you're up for it."
Sakura shrugged. "Sure."
He pouted at her lack of enthusiasm but led her down the cement steps to the dark hallway. Chakra enhanced two-way mirrors and doors lined both sides. As they walked down, Sakura could see metal tables and chairs in some, and just a single chair in others. The interrogation rooms couldn't be bothered to be cleaned either with aged bloodstains coating the walls and floor. She grimaced.
"How unhigee-- unhygii--... un-hy-gee..."
"Unhygienic?" Genma supplied with a wide grin.
"Yeah. That. Shut up, Shiranui-san."
She walked a little ways ahead of him, cheeks coloring as she inwardly cursed her underdeveloped pronunciation. Looking to the right, she saw that the second to last room was occupied with none other than Shikamaru's father, alive and well, and some poor bastard being subjected to his interrogation tactics. But she already missed most of the action. Genma walked up beside her.
"Ah. That's Nara Shikaku. He doesn't do interrogation all that much and normally works with the Cryptanalysis Team the next building over. That guy is a prime example of a real genius 'cept he's a real lazy sack of bones. Can't get him do anything around here," he grumbled. "It's a real wonder how someone got him to do his job, much less an interrogation."
Shikaku knocked the prisoner out before giving a wide yawn and walking out. When saw Genma, he raised a hand in a lazy wave. "Afternoon, Genma."
His eyes then trailed down to the short, pink-haired girl.
"And who's this young lady?"
"Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you, Nara-san," she greeted. He raised an eyebrow at her. It was odd to see someone so young in the building. And by the looks of it, she was about the same age as his son.
"Nice to meet you too, Sakura-chan," he replied slowly. He lifted his eyes back to Genma who easily explained the situation.
"When we get her parent's permission, we'll get her to train a bit and work under the Intelligence Sector. I'm just showing her around," he chirped.
"Really?" Shikaku mused. He glanced back down at the girl who returned the look with hard, calculating eyes. An involuntary shiver ran down his spine. Strange. "I'm going to report my findings to Inoichi. Have fun, you two."
He stuffed both hands of his pockets and started his trek out of the basement. He did throw one curious glance over his shoulder before disappearing up the steps. Sakura tore her eyes away from his retreated form and looked back into the interrogation room.
"So are you just going to leave him in there?" she questioned. Genma bobbed his head.
"Yup. He'll probably be in there for a couple of hours before an actual interrogator comes down here to finish up."
She stayed quiet before glancing up at him. "Have you ever accidentally swallowed that senbon? Seems like you have."
Genma pulled a face before turning away and scratching his cheek. "Maybe once."
She smiled a bit at that. Suddenly, she heard the door open and the light tapping of footsteps that followed. Genma's name was called out by a voice Sakura thought held an uncanny familiarity. How? This voice was cheerful and light-hearted and nothing like the voice back in her world. Someone in a green flak jacket came into view, Uchiha clan crests in blue four pointed stars stitched onto the shoulders of his black long sleeved shirt, and orange goggles stuck on his forehead on top of his hitai-ate.
Genma grinned. "What's up, Obito?"
::
Sasori stood in the kitchen, staring intently at the burning pot sitting on the stove. What did he do wrong? He was pretty sure he followed the recipe... Kisame walked in a few minutes later and paused, eyes first going to the fire, then to the confused man standing in front of it.
"... What are you doing?" he asked.
"I was trying to cook noodles," Sasori answered. Kisame looked to the counter and saw the package of uncooked noodles sitting there; unopened.
"The noodles aren't even in-- did you just burn boiling water?"
"There's not just water in there. I put oil in too."
"... But... The noodles aren't..."
Kisame simply shut his mouth, turned on his heel, and walked back out of the kitchen. It was six in the morning and it was far too early for him to deal with Sasori's recent weirdness. As he walked to his room, he heard Sasori call after him.
"Where are you going? Tell me what I did wrong with the noodles!"
::
Edited: 1/29/18
::
New Story: "Otokage"
"He chose your fate. You have to take over his job. His village. His place in the world. This is the life you have to live. So, what do you say? Do you accept the position as Orochimaru's successor?"
Rewrite of: Red Skies (2013)