[fic] The Art of Breaking
Title: The Art of Breaking
Characters: Kabuto, Rin
Genre: Angst
Rating: T
Summary: Very AU. The Hokage talks to a prisoner.
She stares at the gates and sighs. The empty compound is a stark reminder of the fine line between genius and insanity.
There had been no true memorial for the victims of the Uchiha massacre for a long time as the memorial stone only commemorated shinobi killed on missions. One of her first acts as Hokage was to order a new stone to be placed outside the entrance to the Uchiha district. It's this that she looks at now. There's a particular name that she's come to remember and she finds it with the ease of long practice.
If he had lived... Well, she hopes that things would be very different.
The betrayal she'd felt after the massacre rises to the surface again as she recalls one of the names that isn't on the stone. She had believed in his innocence when his clan had not. Shortly after she'd returned to Konoha, Kakashi had told her of the price of his power though. She'd put the pieces together instantly and doubled the bounty on his head the next day. There will be no mercy or second chances for the killer of the Uchiha.
A ghostly kiss is pressed into her hair and arms wrap around her briefly.
"...Shisui?" she whispers.
There's no answer, of course, although she waits for a while before turning away. Her duties to the living are what's important now.
---------------------
She walks down the hallway. All her appointments have been cleared for the afternoon. Her assistant had not approved of her decision but had wisely kept silent. She has a feeling that this is something that she needs to do though.
Ibiki meets her at the end of the corridor.
"Hokage-sama."
His face is expressionless of course, but his eyes briefly reveal his unhappiness at her request.
"The prisoner is this way."
--------------------
There's a table with two chairs in the centre but apart from them, the interrogation room is bare and unoccupied. She knows that there will be a specially-trained Hyuuga on the other side of a wall, watching her session with the prisoner carefully though. Even the Hokage is not above suspicion, especially given the identity of the prisoner.
She regards the prisoner calmly as he's brought in by a pair of ANBU. They shackle him to a chair and take up positions by the door.
"I'm honoured, nee-san."
"My family are those who remain loyal to Konoha. Those who do not are no kin of mine."
He bows his head in brief acknowledgement of her statement.
"But you still came to see me."
"True."
She studies him quickly and tries not to see how little he's changed.
"Your crimes will result in execution but I can change that."
He looks at her with a strange half-smile on his face.
"Hokage-sama, are you trying to make a deal with me?"
Her title sounds wrong coming from his lips somehow but then some part of her thinks that the whole situation is wrong.
"Yes. Will you accept it?"
He seems thoughtful for a moment.
"I don't know. What do you think Itachi-san would do?"
Her killing intent goes through the roof as she sees red.
"Never say that name in front of me," she hisses.
She breathes deeply as her urge to punch him through the wall subsides. Letting him get to her had been a huge mistake but she knows how to rectify it.
"Our time is over."
She glances at the cat-masked ANBU.
"Let Ibiki-san know I'm done, if you please? I think the prisoner could do with his attention now."
As she leaves, she has the satisfaction of seeing his composure broken momentarily.
--------------------
She waits a few days before returning.
He's a little less sure of himself this time but hides it well.
"Back so soon, Hokage-sama?"
She doesn't have time for this but she cannot afford to appear desperate to him. Her mistake last time had already revealed that he knew exactly what her weak spots were and how to exploit them. It is time that she goes on the offensive instead.
"I was considering something."
"Oh? Am I permitted to know what?"
"Yes. I thought that perhaps since you still bear the Yakushi name, it is time for you to receive the clan markings. However the colour remains an issue. Obviously you cannot wear purple but white is still a possibility. What do you think?"
"Why, with that colour, it's almost as if you want to get rid of me, Yakushi-sama."
They stare at each other for a moment.
"Have you given my offer any thought?"
"You haven't even told me what it is yet."
"I didn't? My mistake. If you agree to share any information you may possess on the Akatsuki, you will be granted a chance to reintegrate into Konoha."
"Under careful supervision?"
"Under very careful supervision."
"Your generosity knows no bounds, Hokage-sama."
She waits.
"I accept your kind offer."
She glances at one of the ANBU who unshackles him from the chair and leads him out.
This had not been what she'd expected after Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun had tracked her down and she sighs. Konoha still needs so much work after the invasion but hopefully this will be a step in the right direction.
Characters: Kabuto, Rin
Genre: Angst
Rating: T
Summary: Very AU. The Hokage talks to a prisoner.
She stares at the gates and sighs. The empty compound is a stark reminder of the fine line between genius and insanity.
There had been no true memorial for the victims of the Uchiha massacre for a long time as the memorial stone only commemorated shinobi killed on missions. One of her first acts as Hokage was to order a new stone to be placed outside the entrance to the Uchiha district. It's this that she looks at now. There's a particular name that she's come to remember and she finds it with the ease of long practice.
If he had lived... Well, she hopes that things would be very different.
The betrayal she'd felt after the massacre rises to the surface again as she recalls one of the names that isn't on the stone. She had believed in his innocence when his clan had not. Shortly after she'd returned to Konoha, Kakashi had told her of the price of his power though. She'd put the pieces together instantly and doubled the bounty on his head the next day. There will be no mercy or second chances for the killer of the Uchiha.
A ghostly kiss is pressed into her hair and arms wrap around her briefly.
"...Shisui?" she whispers.
There's no answer, of course, although she waits for a while before turning away. Her duties to the living are what's important now.
---------------------
She walks down the hallway. All her appointments have been cleared for the afternoon. Her assistant had not approved of her decision but had wisely kept silent. She has a feeling that this is something that she needs to do though.
Ibiki meets her at the end of the corridor.
"Hokage-sama."
His face is expressionless of course, but his eyes briefly reveal his unhappiness at her request.
"The prisoner is this way."
--------------------
There's a table with two chairs in the centre but apart from them, the interrogation room is bare and unoccupied. She knows that there will be a specially-trained Hyuuga on the other side of a wall, watching her session with the prisoner carefully though. Even the Hokage is not above suspicion, especially given the identity of the prisoner.
She regards the prisoner calmly as he's brought in by a pair of ANBU. They shackle him to a chair and take up positions by the door.
"I'm honoured, nee-san."
"My family are those who remain loyal to Konoha. Those who do not are no kin of mine."
He bows his head in brief acknowledgement of her statement.
"But you still came to see me."
"True."
She studies him quickly and tries not to see how little he's changed.
"Your crimes will result in execution but I can change that."
He looks at her with a strange half-smile on his face.
"Hokage-sama, are you trying to make a deal with me?"
Her title sounds wrong coming from his lips somehow but then some part of her thinks that the whole situation is wrong.
"Yes. Will you accept it?"
He seems thoughtful for a moment.
"I don't know. What do you think Itachi-san would do?"
Her killing intent goes through the roof as she sees red.
"Never say that name in front of me," she hisses.
She breathes deeply as her urge to punch him through the wall subsides. Letting him get to her had been a huge mistake but she knows how to rectify it.
"Our time is over."
She glances at the cat-masked ANBU.
"Let Ibiki-san know I'm done, if you please? I think the prisoner could do with his attention now."
As she leaves, she has the satisfaction of seeing his composure broken momentarily.
--------------------
She waits a few days before returning.
He's a little less sure of himself this time but hides it well.
"Back so soon, Hokage-sama?"
She doesn't have time for this but she cannot afford to appear desperate to him. Her mistake last time had already revealed that he knew exactly what her weak spots were and how to exploit them. It is time that she goes on the offensive instead.
"I was considering something."
"Oh? Am I permitted to know what?"
"Yes. I thought that perhaps since you still bear the Yakushi name, it is time for you to receive the clan markings. However the colour remains an issue. Obviously you cannot wear purple but white is still a possibility. What do you think?"
"Why, with that colour, it's almost as if you want to get rid of me, Yakushi-sama."
They stare at each other for a moment.
"Have you given my offer any thought?"
"You haven't even told me what it is yet."
"I didn't? My mistake. If you agree to share any information you may possess on the Akatsuki, you will be granted a chance to reintegrate into Konoha."
"Under careful supervision?"
"Under very careful supervision."
"Your generosity knows no bounds, Hokage-sama."
She waits.
"I accept your kind offer."
She glances at one of the ANBU who unshackles him from the chair and leads him out.
This had not been what she'd expected after Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun had tracked her down and she sighs. Konoha still needs so much work after the invasion but hopefully this will be a step in the right direction.