Chapter 1: Prologue
Notes:
Welcome! I hope you stick around!
Keep in mind english is not my first language.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"I am going to shove Shikamarus huge head up his fucking ass."
Kaede was panting, cold sweat running down her forehead and gathering on the tip of her nose. Her fingers were trembling, trying to administer healing chakra in pinpoint detail. Her feet had gone numb from kneeling some time ago.
Itachi chuckled under her, the sound felt wrong. A little too wet, a little too weak. She dared a quick look at his face.
"Shut the fuck up Itachi,” she hissed, cringing at the tremble in her voice. “If I die on this mission without ever having kissed Ino, I won't talk to you in the afterlife."
Against protocol, Itachi's weasel mask was laying off to the side of the cave so she could monitor him. Check if he was getting paler, notice when he slipped into unconsciousness. His face was drawn, sweat and blood crusting all over it. Dark, glassy eyes were staring into the middle distance unseeing. He probably was only awake thanks to his infinite stubbornness, but at least further from death than he had been a few hours ago.
One of Kaede's fingers slipped from his ribcage, spasming. She cursed under her breath, using the spike of adrenaline to force her focus back on the slow and tedious process of knitting Itachi's sternum together. She had been fusing shards of bone for the last 20 minutes, a welcome break from frantically plugging holes in his lung so he could breathe.
It was getting harder to focus.
She had to shove down the instinct to simply jump ahead, to close the rest of the muscle over the fracture, seal the skin and call it good.
Kaede might have never had an aptitude for healing, but right now she regretted not practicing more despite herself. The knowledge that for a better med-nin, a wound like this wouldn't be a problem and just a regular morning shift, made her feel even worse.
She knew the theory. Rib fractures were fickle things, a job done properly meant there couldn’t be bone fragments left to move around. They had been lucky the rib splinters had missed Itachis heart.
But in practice, a pierced lung had already been way above her paygrade. Working on a moving, breathing chest was harder than anything she had ever done. If they made it back she would brag about this forever.
After what felt like another eternity, his sternum was stable, all bits of ribs were attached, and Itachi's lungs were continuing to inflate normally.
Kaede sighed and leaned back, wishing she could wipe off the sweat sticking to her forehead. A glance at Itachi told her she shouldn't expect any commentary anymore, but at least his eyes were open, slowly drifting towards her, not really finding purchase.
"The flesh wound you're gonna have to deal with if you want me awake until you can move again.”
Itachi didn’t react as she disinfected and dressed the remaining wound, though he groaned when she pulled him up into a semi sitting position.
His whole side was still bruised, and even freshly healed, his chest must feel like someone was sitting on it. Itachi's forehead came to rest on the crook between her neck and shoulder.
Kaede could feel it was too cold beneath the crusted blood.
"Shut up, at least you can use both lungs again," she mumbled and pulled the bandages over his chest, earning another groan.
After wrapping his torso as tight as she could manage, she gave herself a moment to lean into him. Congratulating herself and focusing on Itachi alive and breathing.
Just a second of rest before she would get back to business. One deep breath, in, and out. Taking stock of her reserves, her busted elbow and numb feet, her knee was radiating pain, a few other cuts and bruises.
Nothing she couldn’t handle.
She set her teammate back down carefully and dug through her pack for the pack of blood replenishing pills. The tin slid open easily, her thoughts whirring while she stared at the small dark pills, hesitating.
The situation wasn’t ideal, the wound was not fully closed and these kinds of pills would increase the bleeding and delay it scabbing over. Kaede had made sure he wasn't bleeding internally. Externally she could monitor. He wouldn't bleed through the bandages and lose more than what the pill would replenish.
Right?
Well, he couldn’t get much worse than he was now.
With gentle fingers and a sigh she popped the pill and some powdered pain killer in Itachi's mouth, and tilted his head back, lifting her flask to his lips.
"Come on, you have to do some of the work."
His lips twitched, more in discomfort than appreciative of her joke, and he swallowed.
The pill would take about three hours to take full effect. Three hours, then she would hopefully have a partner with enough blood in his system to be halfway back to functioning.
Itachi was settled in the back of the little earth and root cave, buried under all the disposable fabric she had to keep him warm. She wiped the grime off his forehead, placed her hand on it.
Gentle, comforting she hoped, but mainly assessing. A quick burst of chakra to scan through his meridians, approximating his body temperature and chakra levels. Another carefully measured pulse to burn away any infection trying to take hold. As Kaede took her hand back from his forehead the trembling looked almost comical.
"You should sleep now," she offered, talking more to herself than Itachi, "I promise to wake you up if anything exciting happens".
I'll secure the perimeter, I'll take watch, I'll get us out of here, I'll drag you back if I have to, went left unsaid. He wouldn’t hear anyways.
Settling down next to him, pressing her upper thigh to his uninjured side, she mulled over what info to send back home.
After some time, out of the corner of her eyes she saw Itachi's eyes drift closed, shallow breathing slowing down, but remaining rhythmic. The painkillers must have started working.
It was good she had things to do, otherwise she would be asleep right along with him.
The last sealable report scroll she had was covered in grime and Itachi's blood. Maybe that would rouse some attention back home. In quick, hurried code she wrote down their status and a short version of the information the last confrontation with the group of Missing Nin had revealed. In case they didn’t make it back after all.
"Nara, your intel was ass." tiny, in the margins. She couldn’t help herself, frustrated, cold, exhausted as she was. Out of professionalism, she didn't add an angry doodle next to it. She tied it closed and made her way to the mouth of the cave.
Itachi's crow was waiting to take it back to Konoha as quick as the wind.
Notes:
Ask me about my medical ninjutsu theories!
Chapter 2: Chapter Two, Neurons
Summary:
Let's establish this OC a bit more, before we get to the good stuff :)
I hope you like her!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter Two, Neurons
[Neurons, specialized cells that transport information and instruction through the body with weak electrical currents.]
Eight years ago.
The ANBU tryouts this year didn’t have a very impressive turnout. But Team Ro had been down a member for some time, and Itachi had hoped someone promising would be in the pool of candidates.
The second round of fights had just begun, a candidate who moved like an Uchiha was up against Bear. Leaning against the railing of the underground arena balcony, Itachi let his thoughts drift off. They didn't really need another Sharingan in the team, no use in paying too much attention.
Yuugao beside him was probably only staying for formalities, she hadn't been happy about the candidate pool and first round demonstrations either.
ANBU tryouts were based on internal recommendations, and Itachi questioned the thought process of some recommendations every time.
His first round fight had been altogether underwhelming.
Candidates were not expected to win, but to effectively demonstrate their abilities. His opponent, tall and wiry, had been annoyingly defensive and reserved. No notable long range skills, but they had held their own against a Sharingan at close range, which warranted at least a raised eyebrow. Surprisingly, Itachi hadn't been able to effectively trap them in a Genjutsu either. Surely good enough for an active Jounin, an ANBU agent needed more edge.
The edge might have come in the way foreign chakra had very subtly tried to invade his system whenever they had touched him. Still, Itachi hadn't been interested enough to find out, and had expelled it out of reflex every time. It had felt similar to a Genjutsu trying to worm its way into the brain.
Clearly, this candidate had drawn the wrong opponent for their first match.
Yuugao nudged him as his first round opponent entered the arena again. Itachi saw Mole, the loud and obnoxious Captain of Team Mu jump down to the ground level, body language oozing confidence.
Team Mus Captain was not known for letting candidates show off their skills in these matches. Knowing him, he would demolish the candidate in a short and brutal hand to hand confrontation. And if after that humiliating defeat, they came back for the next tryouts, he'd spare them a thought.
Nevertheless, maybe it would be interesting to see how the candidate would fare against someone more versed in Taijutsu than Itachi was.
The proctor lowered her hand, and Mole shot forward, immediately locking his opponent in a close range battle. They traded three quick blows and Itachi leaned forward, Sharingan whirring to life. The second Yuugao cocked her head, probably about to tease Itachi about his interest being piqued after all, the Arena went quiet and eerily still.
Mole was lying on the floor in a heap of limbs, breathing, but unmoving. Not a twitch and not a sound.
The candidate straightened, posture relaxed, and their blank mask turned towards the proctor in a silent question. The overwhelming silence in the Arena stretched for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Everybody was paying attention now, and Yuugao next to him was chuckling. Maybe Team Ro would gain a new member this time around after all .
~+~
Present day.
Pacing between the entrance and the back of the cave they had found shelter in probably wasn't very smart and stealthy of her. But if Kaede sat down for another minute, she was going to fall asleep, and that wasn’t very smart either.
Itachi's breathing had deepened out in true relaxation and sleep about eight hours ago, and since then, his face and lips had been gaining colour again. The pill had taken more time than Kaede had calculated, but it was showing its effects.
For now, she was going to let Itachi rest until something dramatic happened, or he woke up by himself. The longer he rested, the more options they had should something unexpected find them.
And near fatal injury should definitely be enough excuse to be behind schedule.
Kaede bounced on the balls of her feet, knee throbbing in protest. A few more hours of rest and approximately all of the painkillers they had, and he would be able to run back to Konoha. Well, maybe a fast jog so Kaede could keep up.
She glanced at the third occupant of their temporary shelter. The missing-nin they had been sent to hunt, and maybe, more than Shikamaru, the source of all her problems.
With fuller chakra reserves, she would be able to move him easily. About the path here, he would probably have complaints about the logistics. Body dragging over the stones mud and extra prickly grass and all. Not that she had cared.
She had been too busy keeping Uchiha "it's just a flesh wound" Itachi upright and walking.
Since they had quietly snatched the guy from his bed 16 hours ago, he had been fully paralyzed, safe for the muscles he needed to breathe. His mouth held open by a piece of wood, head leaned forward so he wouldn't choke on his tongue.
This technique was a personal favorite of Kaedes, precise, practical and only needing the tiniest amount of chakra to temporarily interrupt some select nerves leaving the brain. The paralyzed person going a bit mad and mushy trapped in their own body also made them more susceptible for interrogation, which was an added bonus. But they had to make it home first without getting intercepted, again.
One could never be too cautious in this line of work, so Kaede had also blocked the nerves that were required for hearing and seeing. Tied up his hands and feet and slapped one of her expensive chakra suppression seals on his forehead for good measure. Not risking any kind of annoying long range mind control, observation or communication Jutsu fucking their mission up even more.
That the intel that the Konoha defector worked alone had been faulty had been surprise enough. So why take her chances on anything else.
If Kaede needed someone to blame for the unexpected full team of Missing Nin and the tracker amongst them, it would be Shikamaru. Since Ino, who was taking point with the Nara on mission control for this assignment, could never do anything wrong in her life ever. Kaede was already structuring her angry rant. Even if she knew it would never be said out loud.
In reality, Shikamaru hadn't done anything reckless or wrong sending them out as a two person team. He had warned them about the high probability of faulty intel thanks to hurried recon, and reminded them to be on their sneakiest behaviour. But even if Itachi and Kaede were a highly skilled and specialized team, they were still just two people dragging a third one along, against a mob of angry, high level Missing-Nin nin demanding their friend back, violently.
She sighed for the third time in a row and pulled back her focus. She was still kneeling in front of the prisoner after checking the bindings. What a great time to space out. Busted knee protesting, she stood up and walked back to the cave.
Itachi was still sleeping, the forest was not alarmingly quiet, and no chakra signatures were detectable.
Things were going about as well as they could.
During the confrontation, Itachi had pointedly killed the tracker first. But if the left over missing-nin somehow found them, she was toast, and Itachi too while he was still recovering.
Outnumbered, and without Itachi's long range capabilities to give her cover, she would not be able to protect him effectively. Only run. Which was not an option.
Though if the deserters didn't have anybody capable of repairing disrupted nerves, the prisoner would stay toast too.
Kaede's lips slipped into a crooked smile.
Had there been no little network of defectors, the extraction would have been smooth as hell, thank you very much. They had the guy paralyzed and halfway across the country in hours.
But missions being rushed always ruined everything. They shouldn’t have been deployed this blind. Even if a Konoha Shinobi going rogue wasn't very good for the image, or village relations.
And now look at them, already a day behind schedule.
She kneeled down next to him to check his vitals and sighed again. No choice but to wait for literally anything to happen.
~+~
Itachi was adjusting the dead weight of the prisoner on his shoulders for the third time in an hour. Kaede couldn't blame him, but she couldn’t help either.
She let out a measured breath, enjoyed the few seconds she could slow her pace, and blinked her eyes a few times to refocus them. Itachi didn't look good per se, but it was a little unfair that he looked better than her, despite having been closer to death than she was comfortable admitting.
The pace he put on wasn’t exactly fast, but unexpectedly hard to keep up with. Her whole body hurt, and every time her feet connected with the ground she could feel it in her teeth. They had only been travelling for about a day, and she was already struggling.
Not blessed with the hugest reserves, Kaede had dealt with chakra exhaustion many times before. But this time, her coils were so burned out that her chakra couldn’t replenish anywhere near the stable drain needed to keep her body moving past exhaustion.
“Let’s take a break”, Kaede heard, and it took a second to register.
She blinked and the prisoner was leaned up against a tree. Itachi was looking at her, probably with his eyebrows raised behind the mask. It took her another second and a few blinks to make sure her voice would come out stable.
“We are days behind schedule”.
“Sure” Itachi's eyes were determined, and she caught them flicker to her knee, which was bruised and throbbing under the tight wrappings Kaede had applied to stabilize it.
“But my ribcage getting shattered was not on there.”
At least the liar was being subtle about it. She needed the break much more than he did.
“I did a good job patching you up.”
Itachi nodded. He was slowing down for her, Kaede was sure now. “Good enough to make it back in seventy-two hours?”
He stared at her through the mask for a long time, eyes narrowed. She could basically see his brain calculating. With their current pace it would take them more like five days, if nobody was sent out to get them. She took his silence as agreement and decided to interrupt his quiet scrutiny.
“Weasel,” his chin squared out of reflex. “Requesting permission to take a soldier pill.”
She couldn't quite keep the sarcasm out of the question. Despite her lacking skills, she was a med-nin, making the protocol an illusion of choice. This had been on her mind since they left the cave, but the timing was important.
“Approved”
Itachi nodded without missing a beat, rolling his shoulders as his posture relaxed. Kaede let out a quiet huff, lips pouting under the mask.
“You didn’t have to agree so quickly” she mumbled, “at least pretend to think about it”
Soldier pills were not used often, their side effects often more trouble than they were worth. Her stache was buried in the very bottom of her kit. She took it out with stiff fingers, and a water skin was pressed into her free hand before she could ask, a chuckle barely hearable through Itachi’s mask.
Kaede washed the bitter herbal taste of the pill down with water and confirmed with a quick glance that Itachi was staying alert and next to the prisoner. The moment she sat down and leaned back against the tree, letting her head thump against the bark, the exhaustion of the past days hit her full force. If she hadn’t taken the pill, she wouldn’t be standing up and walking any time soon.
Coming back from so close to exhaustion during a blink felt exhilarating.
Time slowed. At first, she noticed her heart miss a beat, then speed up, a deep breath filled her lungs involuntary. The air was crisp and fresh, almost sweet. Feeling returned to her limbs, fingers flexing against the dirt and rocks. Another deep breath for good measure. Her burned out coils smoothed over, the chakra flooding in almost overwhelming. It made her aware of the assortment of bruises that had been drowned out by her exhaustion. A ligament in her knee was definitely torn and the tip of her elbow bone broken. A third breath, her thoughts sped up, her focus sharpening. She used the rush of awareness to quickly repair the injuries that would slow her down, her own cells following much easier than Itachis had.
The body's coils would generate chakra continuously, faster even during rest or meditation. Every Shinobi knew how depleting and therefore overstraining them ended in slower replenishing of chakra until the system is back to healed. Tricking burned out chakra coils into believing the body is fully at rest, letting them replenish chakra as fast as possible could be kept up for around three days if one was smart about it.
The first rush would be the strongest, from here on, the more Chakra Kaede used, the quicker she would face the consequences.
Her eyes snapped open. The world was clear again. The long way home doable.
Itachi was looking at her from over at the next tree where he was looming over the prisoner. Her teammate was probably frowning at her, angry at the circumstances. But betting all they had on the rest of their journey continuing without holdups was the only logical step from here.
Now she could heal his wound fully, fuel her body for the way back, and be ready in case of another ambush.
All for the price of severe coil burnout that would make her useless for at least two weeks. But that was the future.
Body light, Kaede got up and walked over with a spring in her step, nodding at Itachi to sit down. Hands already glowing green.
“Let’s make it 60 hours” she grinned, “to make sure I can crash in my bed after bathing for an hour and eating a pot of Curry .”
~+~
Fifty-eight hours later, moon lighting up their path just barely through the canopy, they passed the old and gnarled tree that meant if Kaede squinted enough, she would be able to see the roof of the west gates in the distance. Despite the chakra the soldier pill provided, the past days had felt like a blur. Her body might still pretend to be refreshed, but her mind was not. But then again, the way back home from a mission always passed in a weird haze.
Itachi let out a sigh, preparing to break the practiced silence they had wrapped themselves in for the past days.
“My shoulder is about to fall off”, he said evenly, patting their annoyingly heavy cargo with his free arm.
Kaede let out a quiet huff of amusement. “It better fall off in the hospital.” She had to pause and clear her throat, her voice was too rough. “In front of Tsunade and me at the other end of the village.”
Nothing like a stupid joke to round the mission out. To get a little mental headstart at taking off the mask. To make the transition back less jarring and prepare for crossing the bridge to friends, comfort and true relaxation.
They didn’t slow down as the gate came into view, but their tension eased. A week of running on adrenaline and fumes was about to be rewarded with some good food, actual medical attention and a warm, soft bed. A bath, three bowls of curry and twelve hours of sleep before another three bowls of curry sounded about right.
The gate guards straightened as they approached, one of them, a Chunin, stepping forward to greet them.
“Weasel, Owl. Welcome back.” he said, voice polite but clipped. “We expected you two days ago.” Neither of them answered. Kaede thought the blood and grime on their armour was loud enough, too bad he couldn’t see her roll her eyes through the mask.
The Chuunin shifted his weight, looking between them. “Orders are to report to T&I immediately. You are to assist with interrogation and relay any information not in the last report, someone from Intelligence will also be there.”
Kaede's breath caught, dread slowly uncoiling in her gut. Itachi shifted his weight next to her. This wasn’t ideal. Something must have changed between their last report and now. Their mission had been time sensitive, yes, a missing nin running rogue always was, but this felt different. The existence of a cell of deserters must have been more critical than she had assumed.
And now Mission Control, the Hokage herself probably, wanted more info. And Itachi and Kaede were still the people for the job, apparently.
Itachi started to walk past the guard, posture back to tense, chin lifted. “Then let them know to expect us,” he said, voice low with a note of annoyance he couldn’t quite bite down. She had no option but to follow.
Notes:
Thank you everyone for reading!
Chapter 3: Oxytocin
Summary:
This chapter has our protagonists torture the prisoner, it is not gorey but if you want to, stop reading after the second line break! After [Kaede sometimes wondered....].
Chapter Text
Chapter Three, Oxytocin
[Oxytocin, a hormone contributing to relaxation and trust.]
Ten years ago.
Ino loved being at her mothers flower shop. On sunny days the light fell through the glass roof of the shopfront and lit the inside in a fascinating glow of colours and shades of green. You could smell the sun hitting the flowers, grounded by the smell of warm, wet earth. The little chair in the corner of the greenhouse, hidden behind huge planters of tropical plants was Ino's favourite place.
Her feet were comfortably tucked under her, lemonade on the little mosaic table, and every free surface covered in scrolls about chakra theory, borrowed from Sakura.
Right now, she was hiding from Shikamaru to study for the final Academy exam.
Well, hiding in your favourite spot wasn't the most effective thing, but he wouldn't go out of his way to bother her here. If he asked, she was going to tell him she had been helping out, because Shikamaru getting wind that she was actually studying was mortifying.
A jingle announced new visitors, and her mothers voice sounded from the front.
“Miano-sama, Kaede-chan. It's good to see you, how can I help?”
Ino's eyebrows raised and she straightened to glance over the planter hiding her from view. Grandma Miano had not been back for some time, despite being a usually regular visitor. Her mom had filled Ino in about the women's declining health when she had asked about her some time ago.
Because Grandma Miano not coming by meant Kaede wasn't coming by either.
The girl was a little older than her and didn't talk much, but she was the prettiest person Ino had ever seen. When the sun reflected on her hair it went from brown to almost red and her eyes were Ino's favourite shade of green.
Kaede and Ino usually hung out while the adults talked. She always listened intently to Ino's lengthy explanations detailing different flowers and colours, with clarifying questions even, and was happy with whatever assortment Ino picked out for her.
As soon as Ino's head was over the planter, those green eyes turned to her, followed by a small smile.
Kaede had cut her hair since she had last seen her, brushing her collarbones now, and she looked tired. Ino returned her smile, and put her scrolls in a pile to head over to help.
“I would like to choose some flowers for my funeral arrangements.”
~+~
Present day.
The Torture and Investigation unit was a row of underground hallways, permanently flooded with too strong, too cold overhead lights.
The hallways right under the surface housed offices with tiny slits for windows, the next levels down an interrogation and adjacent observation room would branch off every few meters. The hallways even further underground held cells.
All the hallways looked the same.
As soon as Kaede entered the compound she was filled with the usual sense of vertigo the long bright tunnels gave her. She fixed her eyes on a hole in Itachi's sleeve and tuned their trek out as best she could.
The increasing volume of voices indicated that they were about to reach their destination, and she was able to hear Shikamaru's distinct drawl, and Ibiki's gruff voice.
If Ibiki was here, they wouldn’t have to do much work. She dared a look past Itachi's shoulder.
Ino was standing between the two men. The harsh light was turning her hair almost white, her purple shirt the only pop of colour in the monotonous hallway. She had her arms crossed and was listening intently to whatever Shikamaru was saying.
Kaede's face started heating up instantly. She hoped Itachi didn’t pick up the slight change in her breathing, but she shouldn't delude herself too much.
Kaede wanted Ino to look at her and smile softly in recognition. But this wasn’t the Yamanaka flower shop, they didn’t know each other like this.
Her face was getting red, the mask was probably a good thing at this point.
Thankfully Itachi was taking point for this mission, he would do most of the talking. The prisoner was dropped at the other Shinobi's feet unceremoniously.
“Morino-sensei, Yamanaka-san, Nara-san” he greeted, lowering his head slightly in acknowledgement, Kaede following.
Shikamaru and Ino nodded back. Both of them looked exhausted. If Shikamaru made a comment about them being late, Kaede was going to walk out.
“Weasel, Owl. Glad to have you back in one piece.” Ibiki greeted, “I appreciate you hurrying back despite the circumstances.” Kaede almost snorted.
Shikamaru tilted his head at the prisoner, his eyes jumping to Kaedes. She shook her head. The missing Nin would be deaf and blind until someone reconnected his nerves.
“After you update us on whatever didn’t fit in your last reports, we are going to interrogate him about the identity and origin of the Shinobi he was working with. Since you fought some of them,” Shikamaru paused, waiting for their affirmative nod, and Kaede tapped the storage scroll with the heads she was able to gather in a hurry. “We are going to need you to verify his statements and provide further information on skill levels and abilities.“
As expected.
It was easy to tune out Itachi's detailed report, she would have nothing more to add. They had discussed the intel before starting the run home, as was protocol. Double the chances it would reach the village.
Some focus turning inward, Kaede was confronted with the burn of her coils underneath the lingering effects of the soldier pill. For the first time in days she was able to feel it peek through. The clock was ticking.
Glancing at the others to make sure nobody was paying attention to her, she took a moment to let her eyes fall closed. If she tipped her chin up just so, nobody would be able to see it.
Running her awareness along her meridians, she started calculating. Keeping her exhaustion at bay took a large, constant flow of chakra that she couldn’t compromise on. Standing still must have made the fatigue creeping in worse, and her body had unconsciously started increasing the flow of chakra into her cells. Kaede fought a sigh and grit her teeth, throttling back the amount of chakra she was using. The effects were immediate, but not too bad yet. The next hours were going to be a walk on a tightrope, and she would need to monitor herself closely. If she kept her chakra use at this level, five hours would stretch it. If she sat down maybe four.
Most importantly, she was not going to give Itachi the satisfaction of telling their teammates how she fainted in front of Ino Yamanaka. She would never hear the end of it. The teasing about her little crush was annoying enough as it was.
With a deep breath she opened her eyes and stared directly at the harsh cold light above them, pressing her finger nails into her palms while Itachi worked through the report. She winced at the mention of the soldier pill, she could see Shikamaru raise his eyebrows on the periphery of her vision.
Itachi finished the report with a nod towards her. “Anything to add, Owl?” She shook her head.
“Great,” Shikamaru said, not sounding particularly happy. He raised his arms above his head, stretching. “This is really annoying, but I guess with that information and whatever else we can get out of him we’ll have a solid picture of what's going on.”
Ibiki nodded and stepped back. “Ino, I expect a full report on my desk tomorrow midday.” He looked at his watch, “so you have about ten hours to sort this out”.
Four heads swiveled in his direction. “You’re not leading?” Ino sounded as sceptical as Kaede felt.
Her eyes met Kaedes for a fraction of a second and then flickered to Itachi, before fixing on Ibiki again. Shikamaru breathed in to say something, but Ibiki raised his hand.
“I have other things to do, you and Shikamaru clearly have this handled. Do you disagree?”
Ino bit back a retort and Shikamaru's shoulders slumped even further. Kaede didn’t have to fight the grin stretching her lips. It must feel great to earn Morino Ibiki's approval.
“Weasel is cleared for anything messy, he’ll handle the-” Ibiki was about to continue, but Kaede surprised herself by interrupting him.
“No.”
Ibiki fixed her with a blank look, but she refused to feel intimidated.
“Weasel won’t be able to be efficient with his current chakra levels.” Itachi's head whipped around almost comically fast, he had to be glaring. She was right though, and he knew it. The Genjutsu he usually pulled for interrogations like this was involved, and more effectively wielded by a fresh mind and with stable chakra. He could definitely do it, but Kaede wanted this over fast.
“I’ll write something up after to clear Owl then.” Shikamaru picked up flawlessly.”She’ll be efficient.”
Oh yes. Even this exhausted she’d have the Missing Nin smalltalking within the hour.
There was a beat of silence. Ino was finally looking at her with intent. Eyes narrowed and assessing. Ino was right to be doubtful. Kaede's file probably didn’t say anything about interrogation. Thank god for Shikamaru and his big head.
Finally, Ibiki nodded and turned around, waving at them over his shoulder. “Have fun then, kids.”
Itachi and Shikamaru immediately started discussing the intel again, the words not quite reaching Kaede's ears.
At some point Ino tipped her head back, hissing in frustration. A more well rested Kaede would probably have had the sense to look away, but her eyes refused to cooperate.
Instead, she caught herself staring at Ino Yamanaka's collarbones. But Kaede had just signed herself up for an hour of hell, and zoning out seemed like a great idea for a few seconds.
Quick movement on the edge of her narrowing field of vision pulled her back, as Shikamaru unenthusiastically slapped Inos back. Breaking the bubble of professionalism that had come with discussing mission details. “Go set our guest up, I’ll prepare our notes.”
“Shikamaru” Kaede's voice sounded pleading. “Could you get me a strong coffee with lots of sugar?”
ANBU didn’t request little drink breaks on missions, or send their assigned intelligence officer to fetch it for them, but Kaede really needed this. If she was going to interrogate the Missing Nin with Ino in the room, she couldn’t be getting distracted. Ideally, she’d rub her eyes for an unhealthy amount of time and then rinse them out with cold saline, but coffee would have to do.
To her relief, Shikamaru just laughed. “Sure” he turned to her, his expression teasing, “between Weasel functioning on determination and you riding out a soldier pill on sugar and coffee, I am sure we made the right choice.”
Itachi laughed next to Kaede, and it was good to hear that he wasn’t actually upset at her. Ino was glancing at her with one eyebrow raised, while dragging the prisoner into the cell and getting him situated.
As soon as Shikamaru was gone, Itachi touched a hand to her elbow, head tilted in a silent question. The interrogation room door was open and Ino would be able to hear them. Kaede nodded her head and flashed the hand sign for ‘operational’.
It was time to get to work. In order to talk, the prisoner needed actual use of his body, so she had to reconnect the blocked nerves. Ah the consequences of her own actions.
~+~
Kaede sometimes wondered if other med-nin just had a superior moral compass to her, or were not aware of what they could do.
Instead of saving lives in the hospital four streets over, Kaede was standing in an underground torture chamber, manipulating a man's brain into releasing Oxytocin and making him feel good when he answered a question well, Cortisol and Andrenaline when he refused. Constricting his lungs and speeding up his heart when he took too long to fake a feeling of urgency.
For now, while the coffee and sugar gave her a semblance of focus, it was the most effective way she knew to get someone to talk. It wasn’t very chakra intensive, just some little pushes here or there, but she had to be very precise to manipulate the body like that.
Ino smiled at the prisoner again, and Kaede's hand involuntarily flexed on the back of the prisoner's neck as she coaxed his brain to fake closeness and satisfaction.
He had been fairly cooperative so far. As a former Shinobi of Konoha he was probably aware of the worse things the T&I department could do, or what a Yamanaka in the room meant. Kaede was almost disappointed. Almost.
Ino finished another round of questions, gave Kaede a short signal and smoothly left the room. She probably needed to confirm something with Itachi or discuss with Shikamaru. Kaede took her hand off the prisoner's sweaty neck and leaned against the wall behind her, neck tilting back to stare at the lamp above them. Loosing herself in the bright hum.
A hesitant touch at her upper arm pulled her back to reality. Ino was right in front of her, gaze borderline concerned. Kaede wasn't sure how long it had been. She had to blink heavily a few times to get it back together and nodded.
The burn of her coils was getting stronger, and she felt every place the underarmour was sticking to her with swat and dried blood. There was hair plastered to her face she couldn't wipe away, and while the air under the mask was uncomfortably warm, the rest of her body felt cold.
But nonetheless, she rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck and placed her fingertips on the prisoners back this time. Skin to skin contact was to much right now. Kaede exhaled and forced scraps of her chakra into his meridians.
Ino sat back down opposite the Missing-Nin and looked through some more scrolls, face scarily neutral.
“So,” she began, locking eyes with the man opposite her “you have been very helpful so far.” Ino smiled lightly and batted her eyelashes at him.
“But there are some inconsitencies we still need to go over I am afraid.” her smile got sweeter.
“You might not remember it, really, but my friends” she gestured towards Kaede “did meet up with your friends.”
His heart rate spiked and Kaede raised her chin so Ino would take note.
“Some of them, I believe, are in here” Ino patted the storage scroll to her right gently, not averting her eyes from the Missing Nin. His heart rate was staying high, and he was tensing up.
“I will just ask some of the questions I am confused about again, and you'll try really hard to remember, hm?” The prisoner nodded shakily.
“You are from Konoha, you know that I can just take the answers if I want to right?” Ino paused to prop her head on one hand, tilting her head and smiling. Kaede looked away.
“But I like hearing them from you.” Inos tone was all sugar. Kaede knew it wasn't that simple, but the mechanics of the Yamanaka mind possession were guarded for a reason.
He didn't react to the threat so Kaede made his body panic for him, watching him squirm as sweat begann dripping down the sides of his forehead.
“Great!” Ino said cheerfully, still smiling, now leaned back in her chair, a perfect picture of relaxation and grace.
This round of questions was more intense, and Kaedes vision started to swim the longer it went on. The only thing she saw was Inos mouth mocing. Push chakra there when Ino smiled, squeeze the meridians there here when the corners of Inos mouth pulled down. Her voice was coming from further and further away. Kaede had to lock her knees to remain standing at some point.
After a particularly intense exchange, the prisoner jerked back suddenly, almost pitching Kaede over and she had to consciously arrange her limbs to keep standing. Her field of vision widened as she blinked rapidly. There were heads on the table in front of her and Ino was standing now, arms crossed and looking very dissatisfied.
“You sure you don't remember him?” Ino was asking, pointing at a Shinobi Kaede had only been able to take out because he had been preoccupied with shattering Itachis ribcage. He had easily been the strongest of them.
Their prisoner didn't answer. But his body was panicking all by itself, so Kaede escalated and started stimulating his pain receptors. Starting in his fingers and slowly travelling up his arms. To his credit, he didn't start screaming until she reached his chest. She immediately stopped and forced his muscles to relax.
“I'll ask again” Ino crooned, “you sure you don't remember him?”